I've Been Living on the Crumbs of Your Love
by versarilaetus
Summary: Alec, Izzy, Clary, Magnus, and Simon defy the Clave to save Jace from Valentine. They are determined to find a way to unite the Nephilim and the Down worlders to save the world from Valentine's new shadow hunter army. Alec and Magnus POV. Takes place immediately after the end of season 1. Just enough Malec. Rated M for later scenes because, you know why.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Alec sat in the war room of the Institute trying desperately to ignore Magnus Bane. Whenever the warlock was around he found it impossible to concentrate. Now was not the time to be thinking about the way Magnus, even in a room full of angry shadow hunters, made his skin prick with heat. He shook his head as if he could clear the fog that seemed to follow him around these days. He needed to be thinking about Jace.

The moment Jace had stepped through the portal with Valentine, the whole Institute had gone on high alert, and no one seemed to agree on the next course of action. Izzy and his mother had been yelling at each other for the past hour. The argument bouncing between blame and strategy until Alec thought he could hear his pounding head even above the raised voices. He rubbed his temple and tried to tune out the conversation. Alec wasn't sure what had possessed his brother to go with Valentine. But none of that mattered. None of THIS mattered. He would find Jace. With or without the approval of the Clave. It was his duty.

He could still feel his brother ever so slightly down the parabatai bond inside of him. Ever since they had been linked as children, he had carried around this strange energy in his chest that was Jace. He could feel it's insistent tugging when he breathed even now. When he closed his eye's he pictured it as a crimson swirl of electricity sparking around his heart. Though he couldn't have explained that feeling to anyone if he tried. He pushed back at the rising flutter of panic that threatened to choke him when he attempted to use the connection to contact his friend. Because now that bond had gone dark. Ever since Jace had learned that Valentine had raised him, the once bright amber energy inside him had become like a whisper of shadow. And he felt it fading every minute.

Struggling with the strange feeling of loss, he finally turned his gaze to Magnus who was standing halfway across the room in deep conversation with Clary and Simon. The warlock wore his standard tight leather pants and a deep purple shirt that matched the highlights in his hair. As he gestured adamantly at the pair, Alec could just see the blue fire of his magic spark from his fingertips as he spoke. Suddenly, Magnus's paused and his dark eye's immediately met Alec's as if he had sensed the weight of his stare. Alec felt his breath catch in his chest like it always did when Magnus looked at him. Despite years of practice, he struggled to keep the neutral look on his face when Magnus smiled ever so slightly in his direction. The small smile felt intimate, like a promise of things to come, and Alec looked away.

What the hell was he suppose to do with this doomed relationship in the middle of this crisis? Every ounce of him wanted to cross the room and—he wasn't sure what happened after that. He just knew that he wanted to see Magnus everyday. To hear his voice. And more. Much more.

A sound interrupted his thoughts, and he realizing that his mother had been speaking to him. "What was that?" he asked.

She snorted in exasperation and stood up, pushing her chair back violently with a screech. "This is happening because all of you insisted on not following Clave orders. You thought you knew better," she hissed. "Now Valentine has the cup, and Jace is lost to us. The whole world is at risk because of your incompetence. The law is hard, but it is the law—for a reason." It was silent as she stalked to the door, but pivoted back to them at the last minute. Alec could practically feel everyone's guilt hanging in the air like a black cloud. "I will speak to the Clave. We will decide the best course of action moving forward. You will stay out of it," she demanded, pointing toward him. "All of you."

He kept his face stony, almost bored. "Fine," he said. "I know when to stop." She narrowed her eye's at him and then strode back toward him with her hand out. He felt his jaw tick with anger, but then Magnus moved into view behind his mother and Alec's shoulders relaxed a fraction. He reached into his jacket and removed his stele. He gently placed it into her hand but didn't release the breath he had been holding until she walked away down the hall, tucking his stele into her side pocket.

The room was like a silent tomb in her wake. They all stood frozen in place staring into space. He realized that they were lost without Jace. Arrogant, careless, insufferable Jace always seemed to move them forward. Alec was the oldest, and therefore, in charge but Jace was their natural leader. Now he was gone and the truth was, they had no ideas. Alec felt like he was picking up the shattered parts of himself as he stood. Despite being held together by nothing more then empty prayers to the Angel, he forced his shoulders back and lifted his chin. They turned to look at him.

He assessed his small army with a twinge of panic. Never would he have imagined leading such a hodgepodge group. Clary eye's were bright with with tears. She was broken by the loss of Jace, but her gaze met his with fierce determination. He momentarily marveled at what the new shadow hunter had been through in the past few months. It was a miracle she was still standing. Simon, bless him, stood at her side. He was a hot mess as a new vampire, but Alec was aware that the boy would sacrifice anything for his friends. Thank the Angel for Izzy, who touched the tip of her seraph blade with her finger and smirked at him as if to say, what now big brother? Alec knew she was nearly as deadly as Jace, and when her family was threatened she was a force all her own. Finally, he glanced toward Magnus, the high warlock of Brooklyn and indeed an asset in any battle, who was observing him with a wry smile and a lifted eyebrow.

Alec picked up his bow from the table. "We all know that is bullshit," he said quietly but firmly. "We made the best decisions we could at the time. Our intentions have been pure. Things do not go in a straight line in times of war." He paused, swung his arrows across his back and tighten the strap. "And that is what we are facing. This is a war. Not just for the survival of the world, but for our way of life. It is time for down worlders and Nephilim to step out of the shadow of their parents rules. We can not fight Valentine alone. It is time for us to join together-Vampire, Warlock, Seelie, Fae, Werewolf." He searched their young faces. "We are the same. We have all sacrificed. We have all lost things. We have loved." He forced himself not to look at Magnus again. "And it is time to fight together."

He moved to the doorway and took a deep breath. Turning back he continued, "This is not a decision to be taken lightly. We will be going against orders. Following me could lead to exile or worse. But I took an oath to stop people like Valentine from destroying the world, and I plan on keeping that oath. And I need Jace to do it. If you decide you're with me…you know where I'll be."

xxx

Magnus stood in the doorway of Alec's bedroom, watching his back as he sorted his meager amount of belongings into a small duffle bag. Of course, one by one the whole group had visited Alec and pledged to help save Jace. They were a reckless lot but loyal, and Magnus had not been surprised by the ferocity in which they were determined to save their friend. Regardless of the consequences. Now he took a moment to admire the way the white button down stretched across Alec's wide shoulders, thin enough to show the faint outline of the many rune scars that ran down his back. The permanent one on the side of his neck was particularly intriguing, and Magnus allowed himself the briefest moment to imagine running his tongue—

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to come in?" Alec said without turning around.

Magnus leaned against the doorway and examined his purple fingernails absently. "That was quite a speech shadow hunter. I don't think I've ever heard you string so many words together at a time." He sauntered casually into the room, running a finger along the large desk that took up the majority of the space. He huffed out a quiet laugh as he looked around. The room was sparse, clean, and lacking any charm at all. Totally Alec. How could someone so repressed be so damn attractive, he mused to himself.

"Yeah, well, I'm exhausted from it so…" Alec responded.

Magnus spun and raised an eyebrow at the young man. "Was that an attempt at a joke Alec Lightwood?" He deliberately moved closer as he continued to inspect the room. He heard Alec shift impatiently while he examined the bookshelf in amusement. All non fiction. He shook his head and smiled to himself. He was looking forward to corrupting this one.

Behind him, Alec moved next to the bedroom door. "Magnus," he pleaded. Magnus, however, had no intention of leaving just yet. As he studied Alec from across the room, he noticed the dark circles under his eye's for the first time. His shirt was uncharacteristically rumpled, and his black hair was practically standing straight up from worrying it with his fingers. On impulse, Magnus flicked his wrist, and the door swung closed with a sharp bang. Alec jumped as Magnus strode suddenly toward him. The shadow hunter tried to move back when he invaded his space but was stopped short by the wall behind him. Magnus stopped a foot away, his stomach fluttered at the proximity.

He tilted his head and said in a rough voice, "First of all Alexander, you never have to ask me to join you. I'm with you. No matter what crazy idea you and your friends have come up with." He smiled up at Alec, who was visibly squirming at his closeness.

"Okay…" Alec said.

"Second," Magnus closed the distance between them until their lips were a breath away. Alec froze, his face an unreadable mask. Magnus reached out and twisted his fingers in Alec's belt loop, tugging their bodies firmly together. "This time…I'm going to kiss you," he finished.

Heat instantly pooled in his stomach as he felt the shudder that ran down Alec's body. Alec licked his lips nervously, and Magnus almost groaned at the way it left his lower lip glistening. The green specks in his hazel eye's seemed to glow as he regarded Magnus. His gaze was wary as usual, but Magnus saw the flicker of hunger behind them as he leaned forward and captured Alec's mouth with his own. Magnus jolted with surprise as the hunger roared through him with more heat then he had expected, but he forced himself to keep the kiss light. Alec practically thrummed with tension under his hands. But for just a moment, Magnus felt him soften as he ran his tongue along his bottom lip trying to gain entry. Magnus's heart stuttered as Alec's lips parted slightly but then he groaned, brought his hands up to clench both sides of Magnus's arms, and pushed him away.

Magnus gasped at the suddenness of it as Alec stumbled across the room and sank down on the bed. He put his head in his hands and pulled at his black hair with his fingers. Shocked, Magnus tried not to shiver at the sudden chill that ran through him at the absence of Alec's body. Warlocks did not feel the cold, he reminded himself.

"Magnus." Alec said softly. The sound of his name, said with such sad resignation, nearly knocked Magnus off his feet.

He held himself completely still as Alec continued, "I can't. There is too much happening. I know at the wedding…I mean…I might have let you believe that-" He stopped with a frustrated sound and then stood up again in determination. "You confuse me. You've always confused me. You and I…you're immortal. It will never work. And things...it's just a mess right now. I don't have time to deal with this…" he trailed off, his hands out.

Magnus felt like he had been punched. But he had been in the relationship business way too long to let Alec see how much his words hurt. Two people could play the Alec Lightwood poker face game.

He cleared his throat, willing his voice to be steady, "Well. It seems like you've got it all worked out then." He moved quickly to the door and opened it. He turned back for just a moment, trying not to drink in the appealing sight of Alec's flushed cheeks. "Just so we are clear, I'm still with you. I'll be at the meeting tonight since it's at my loft, of course. But don't worry, I won't be bothering you with…" he gestured between the two of them, "whatever this was." And as Alec started to respond, Magnus snapped his fingers and vanished.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Thunder rumbled outside and a gust of wind blew the balcony doors open with a crack. Magnus rushed over to the large windows, dancing over the various shadowhunters and downworlders who were sprawled around his apartment. He wedged an old brick against the doors to hold them open as the smell of rain swirled in on the breeze and cooled his heated cheeks. Magnus sipped his martini and watched the storm rage for a moment, enjoying the way the weather matched the darkness he felt swirling inside of him. How in the world had he let a young shadow hunter effect him so much? He was Magnus Bane after all. Ignoring the rain pattering in on the expensive carpet, he turned back to observe the room with a suppressed sigh.

If the space around his heart hadn't felt quite so bruised, he would have loved the happy little scene taking place in his living room. When the group had first poured into his home early in the evening carrying overnight bags and a huge greasy paper sack filled with take-out, he had laughed. Now the apartment was almost a cacophony of loudness, and he swore every light in the place had been turned on. Take out cartons and crumpled napkins littered the coffee table. A forgotten set of cards from and imprompty game of spades lay forgotten in front of the fireplace and the big screen tv was blaring some ridiculous teen show about vampires.

Clary and Simon were smooshed together on the love seat sharing a container of mu shoo pork and arguing about who was better at using chopsticks. Isabelle was lounging on the settee, plucking dumplings from a paper bag and flipping through his extensive music selection. Only, Jace's absence was like a hole in the group of friends, but they were making the best of it. Even Magnus kind of missed the blond Shadowhunter's sarcastic comments.

Clary glanced over and waved at him. "Hey Magnus. Come get some before it's all gone." He made his way over to the couch, pointedly ignoring the tall figure sitting in the window seat and sank down across from them on the floor. He peered into the paper bag suspiciously.

"It's not poisonous," Simon said. "I'd have thought after 400 years you would have gotten a taste for Chinese food."

Magnus reached into the bag and took out a pink stained carton of sesame chicken. He scrunched up his nose in disgust. "This, my pale friend, is not Chinese food." He snapped his fingers and the container turned into a steaming bowl of ramen complete with sunny side up egg. "For you're information, I spent several decades in Shanghai. As well as Dongguan in the Pearl River Delta. I know more about Chinese food then you could ever imagine. And I can assure you," he shuddered, "that this is not authentic."

Izzy nodded to his bowl. "Neat trick. Must be nice being able to conjure up whatever you want."

He slurped the hot broth and sighed with contentment. "Being a lowly warlock does have it's perks," he agreed.

There was a blessed moment of comfortable silence. "You know, you never talk about your past." Izzy observed, sitting up straighter and poking her chopsticks in his direction.

"You never asked," Magnus replied, looking for the first time in Alec's direction. The dark haired shadowhunter was gazing out the window, but Magnus knew that he was listening. Alec had not eaten all evening, and he noticed that the circles around his eyes stood out more prominently against his pale face. He snapped his fingers and another bowl of ramen appeared on the window seat. Startled, Alec looked Magnus's way, but he turned back to Izzy before their eye's could meet. There was only so much a warlock could take in one day.

"That's evasive." Isabelle observed.

Magnus huffed out a laugh. "You don't miss much do you shadowhunter?" He noted that he had everyone's attention now. "It is a long story indeed. One I do not wish to share tonight. How about a specific question," he said.

The room was quiet again for a moment as they all contemplated what to ask a warlock who had been alive for centuries. Magnus listened to the storm rage outside, vaguely wondering to himself how he got into these situations. He took another sip of soup.

"What is it that keeps you going year after year?" Alec asked softly into the room. Magnus looked up at him in surprise and the sight of Alexander's hazel eye's were almost his undoing. He looked back down at his bowl. Suddenly he felt more tired then he had in decades.

"People," he responded with a sigh. He gracefully untangled himself from the floor and moved to stand at the balcony doors again. "I know how trite that sounds. All of you are so young." With a wave of his hand the lights in the apartment dimmed except for the witch lights that hovered around the room, bathing it in a soft warm glow. "Humans are so careless. They never realize the urgency of holding onto what they have. But when you're immortal…"

Lightning cracked outside and he paused to listen to the thunder roll and bounce around the city. He could feel his friends hold their breath. "The truth is," he continued softly, "is that this life is unbearably lonely. Things change so quickly. People become whispers of memory. But I've learned over the years that it is always worth it. No matter how painful it may be in the end." He paused at Clary's voice.

"What's worth it Magnus?"

He couldn't help but address the window where Alec sat, his face completely obscured in shadows. But Magnus imagined that he could see the spark of Alec's eye's in the blackness as he responded softly,"Letting people in, Clary. Even if you'll lose them in the end."

xxx

The take out containers had been cleared away to make room for a box of donuts and steaming cups of coffee thanks to a quick flick of Magnus's hand. Alec forced himself, for about the millionth time today, not to look over at the warlock who now sat curled up in the settee with a Garfield mug in his hand.

He couldn't stop thinking about the haunted look on Magnus's face when he talked about loneliness. He knew that look. Understood it. For years he had been surrounded by the love of his family and friends while hiding a deep secret. The feeling of being lonely all that time was like a black scar on his heart. How could someone he had only known for such a short time speak to that feeling without knowing? Alec shook his head and squared his shoulders. There was no time for this.

"Alec?" Clary broke the silence.

He looked up at them all gathered around the coffee table. "Thank you all for being here," he said. "I know what you have sacrificed to help me save Jace." He paused, frustrated with himself. "I wish I had more of a plan. I"m hoping we can come up with something. Does anyone have any ideas?"

Simon sat up. "Clary and I have been narrowing down the possibilities for where Valentine might be holed up. It has to be somewhere surrounded by water since we are having such a hard time trying to track him. So we're thinking a boat or an island. It has to be big enough to support a lot of people while he prepares. There can't be that many places…"

"Did you say a boat?" Alec asked. He shared a knowing look with Izzy. "That sounds like Valentine. He grew up on the water. Back when we were investigating him, we learned that he had a lot of contacts in the boating community. That's got to be it."

Clary shook her head. "That means he could literally be anywhere."

"I could try tapping into the coast guards satellite imagery," Simon offered. "It's not really my expertise but I know a kid who might be able to do it. "

"Good," Alec said. "That's a start. Any other thoughts?"

There was a moment of silence while they all thought about the problem. It was Magnus who spoke first. "Alexander." Alec looked up at Magnus, who put his cup down carefully before continuing. "What about you're parabatai bond?"

"We tried that already," Izzy interjected. "It's too weak. He can't get a read on him."

Magnus didn't respond, keeping his eye's on Alec. "Tell me," he said quietly.

Alec broke eye contact to stare up at the ceiling. "It's not good. It feels…different. Like it's Jace but not Jace. He's not in a good place. He thinks he deserves to be there." He swallowed. "It's fading everyday." He turned pleading eye's back to Magnus. "I'm afraid we are running out of time." Magnus was quiet for so long that Alec suddenly realized that he was holding something back. "What do you know? Is there something your magic can do to help?"

As if making a decision, Magnus squared his shoulders,"Yes. A powerful warlock can amplify the bond," he said. There was a moment of stunned silence.

Izzy lept off the couch, staring accusingly down at him, "What the hell Magnus! How come you are just telling us this right now. The bond gets weaker everyday!"

Magnus stood as well, his voice raising uncharacteristically, "Because Isabelle, it will put Alec in mortal danger."

"By the Angel Magnus, we are trying to save the world here!" Isabelle yelled, hands on her hips. "It's our job to be in harms way. Alec is not afraid of being in a little danger!"

Magnus's eyes narrowed and Alec noticed bits of blue fire sparking from his fingers. Simon and Clary must have seen it too, because they jumped to their feet. Magnus sensed them too, because he flicked his wrist and suddenly circles of blue fire held their arms, pinning them in place as Magnus stalked closer to Izzy.

Alarmed, Alec stood. He wasn't actually worried but it occurred to him for the first time that maybe he had underestimated the power Magnus possessed. It was hard to believe that a second ago he was drinking hot cocoa from a mug with a cartoon cat on it. Now Magnus seemed to fill up the whole room. Alec thought he could actually feel the heat of the power coming off him in rippling blue waves.

Izzy stumbled back a step when Magnus reached her. Alec was pretty sure she had never retreated from anyone in her life.

"It is not a little danger," Magnus said, his voice menacingly quiet. "It is powerful magic, Isabelle. Dark magic." The shimmer of power in the room dimmed as Magnus pulled it back in. "He could die. And so could I. I do not believe in sacrificing one life for another." He turned to Alec, his shoulders relaxing. The wave of power in the air pulsed once more and then faded. "I had to wait until there was no more options before mentioning it. Of course it's up to you Alexander," he said with one of those little bows that reminded him that Magnus was not from this century.

Everyone was still staring at Magnus in shock as he plucked a powdered donut from the box and returned to his seat. He tore a small piece off of the pastry and delicately popped it in his mouth as he leaned back and crossed his legs. Alec noticed that the white powdered dust that drifted toward Magnus's suit magically disappeared in the air just before it could make it to the dark lapel of his suit coat. Alec laughed.

"Angel, Magnus. You sure know how to keep things interesting," he said, still chuckling. The group turned to him, equally surprised at his unusual display of mirth. Alec willed his face to return to neutral, but he couldn't help but notice the tiny grin on Magnus's face.

"Alright. We'll try to contact Jace through the bond. It's not even a question," he said. Everyone nodded. He clapped his hands together and stood up. "What do we need to get this done?"

Magnus studied him for a moment. "Sleep," he said. Alec stared at him. "Alec, you look like death. This spell can not be done unless you are at full strength. I suggest we try in the morning. It's late, and I think we could all use a little sleep."

Alec was about to protest but he could see all the other's yawning. Magnus snapped his fingers and some of the furniture from the living room was replaced with small cots. Izzy put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay big brother. I know how worried you are about Jace. But Magnus is right. We are all exhausted. "

Alec nodded and watched the others start to shuffle toward bed. "Sunrise," he said to the room.

"After breakfast." Magnus countered as he moved toward his bedroom. Alec threw up his hands in frustration but no one was paying attention anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Alec wasn't sure how long he had been standing in the dark hall staring at Magnus Bane's closed bedroom door. After hours of gazing helplessly at the ceiling in the guest room trying to fall asleep, he had found himself standing in the hall with his hand braced against the door jam. He had been standing there so long that his arm ached from holding it up but he couldn't seem to make himself move. Part of him wanted to turn around and forget this moment of weakness. Maybe the morning would come and the unforgiving light of day would take care of the jittery anticipation he felt under his ribs whenever he thought about the warlock. But he couldn't seem to leave. The thought of Magnus sleeping on the other side of the door so tempting his skin seemed to crawl with the need to see him.

Unprompted, the door swung open a crack. "Are you just going stand there all night or are you going to come in?" Magnus's words came from a distant, but the skin between Alec's shoulder blades pricked as the low voice rolled over him.

He stood still for another moment considering. He knew he should leave. What he had said earlier about it being a bad time for a complicated relationship had been completely logical. They had to focus on saving Jace and stopping the world from falling apart. The flamboyant warlock couldn't be more wrong for him. Half the time he didn't even comprehend what Magnus was saying. Walking away was clearly the right thing to do.

He stepped inside and swung the door closed gently behind him. The click of it shutting seemed so loud in the dark room that he winced.

Alec took a moment to absorb the fact that Magnus's bedroom was about the same size as the whole rest of the apartment. The room was completely in shadows except for the fireplace. The flames were low and barely illuminated the enormous canopy bed taking up most of the space. The floor to ceiling windows were flung up and Alec could see the lights of the city sparking below them like stars. Despite the clear wealth and opulence, Alec was surprised by the uncluttered simplicity of the space. One single giant abstract painting hung over the hearth, the bold sweeps of rich blue and gold reminding him of Magnus's magic. He tried to ignore the fact that he thought he recognized the piece from a distant art history class.

As his eye's adjusted he could see that Magnus was standing behind one of the wingback chairs in front of the fireplace. Alec rubbed the back of the neck as he slowly moved further into the room, unnerved by the warlock's silent. A rush of adrenaline that he recognized from going into battle raced through him.

Magnus turned to face him, his unlined eye's and unreadable in the flicker of firelight. Alec felt the world shift under his feet. He sucked in a breath sharply as he took in this new Magnus. The warlock was dressed for the night in black silk pajama pants that were slung low on the sharp curve of his hips. A matching black robe was gaped open to show the expanse of his chest and the smooth golden plain of his abdomen. Alec flushed as his eye's followed the triangle of dark hair trailing from where Magnus's navel should have been to below his waistband. His feet were bare. Magnus looked naked without his jewelry, and his hair was soft and tousled as if he had just woken up. He was the sexiest thing Alec had ever seen.

Finally, he looked up to see Magnus watching him. The light of the fire on his face flickered and his beautiful dark eye's were shadowed. Alec felt his fingers actually ache with the need to touch him, but he stood still—unsure of what to do next. The silence stretched on as Magnus studied him, and something in his eye's flickered. Alec willed him to stay put. Not sure what he would do if Magnus actually came closer.

Magnus sighed. "What is it I can do for you at this late hour, Alexander?" he asked softly.

It was the sound of his name that made him move. Suddenly he was a breath away, one trembling hand slipping past the robe and sliding around Magnus's waist, pulling him roughly toward him. The contact of his skin sending heat to every nerve of his body. Alec felt Magnus gasp against his lips before he settled his against them.

Magnus tasted like rain and smoke. His lips were soft and yielded instantly. Alec heard the roar of his blood in his ears when Magnus's hand came up tangle in his hair. His tongue darted out and ran along Alec's bottom lip. He gasped and Magnus took the opportunity to lick into his mouth, their tongues mingling. Alec felt his control disintegrate as Magnus melted against him, leaving no room for imagination about his desire.

He tore his lips away, panting. Magnus stared back at him, his eye's dark and unfathomable. Alec growled and claimed his mouth again. His tongue unrelenting as he backed the warlock toward the bed and fell on top of him. "Alec," Magnus gasped as the shadow hunter turned his head to gain access to his neck. Alec licked and nipped underneath the warlock's jaw savoring the salty taste.

Magnus's hands ran up his back and fisted in his shirt as his hips arched to meet Alec's. He was on fire. Kissing Magnus felt like coming up for air after drowning. The feeling was like none he had ever felt before, and he wondered how he had lived so long without the fire that was roaring through him.

Alec sat up a little so he could watch as his hands swept across smooth expanse of Magnus's toned chest. He reveled in the way the warlock moved against his hands. His long fingers danced lightly against the waistband of the black silk pants as he glanced up at Magnus with hooded eye's.

Gone was the self assured, sarcastic, powerful warlock. In his place Magnus looked like he was about to come apart. The color was high on his cheeks and the cool blue glow of his magic surrounded him like an aura. "Alec," he said, his voice pleading, and his eye's wild.

Alec leaned over to press an open mouth kiss to his bare hipbone. He felt rather then heard the moan that rumbled through Magnus at the contact. Alec's hands shook as he pulled his shirt over his head. He tensed as Magnus reared up below him to trace a finger along the rune on his ribcage, and they both hissed when he leaned back over Magnus and captured his lips again. He kissed him with everything that he had been holding back since the moment they had met. Magnus met his desperation eagerly, until Alec was completely lost.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed. It felt like just a moment or forever but he felt Magnus pull away. He heard himself make a sound that he never thought he would ever make. It sounded like begging.

The hand's on his shoulders pushing him back with more strength then he thought he had. "Alec!" Magnus said finally with more conviction, although he was struggling to breath. Alec stared down at him in confusion through a red haze of desire. Magnus pushed him to the side and sat up. He plunged his hands into his dark hair and held his head in his hands as he struggled to catch his breath. Alec stared at him, bewildered, as the fog lifted. Panic, like an ice cold shower hit him.

He leapt to his feet, and stumbled backwards toward the door with his hand up. "Oh god, Magnus. I don't know… I didn't mean to….You don't want….Oh, god." Alec faltered. He turned to flee.

"Stop right there you beautiful idiot," Magnus said with a low laugh that sent shiver's down Alec's spine. "Someone's coming."

At that, there was a frantic pounding, and Clary yelled through the door, "Magnus! Magnus, we need you out here now! The Clave…they've found us…" her voice lowered, "We can't find Alec…"

Alec spun back to face Magnus, feeling a new wave of terror as he looked down at himself. He knew he must look exactly like someone who was completely and wildly out of control. Magnus was up and to the door before he could react. The fire abruptly went out, plunging the room into complete darkness and he heard Magnus say quietly, "Get yourself together, Lightwood." There was a pause. "You're secret is safe with me," he finished as Alec grabbed his discarded shirt and faded into the shadows.

When Magnus opened the door a second later, Alec could see from the light in the hall that he had glamoured himself into a decidedly more conservative cobalt blue pajama set with matching highlights in his now perfectly styled hair. The only sign that anything had been going on moments earlier was the blush underneath his glitter lined eye's and in the slight breathlessness in which he spoke to Clary.

"Magnus." Clary gasped out. "Izzy just got a call from a friend at the Institute. The Clave is on the way here right now. Izzy says we have minutes before they arrive." Clary frantically pushed her hair out of her face, her green eye's sparked with anger. "They have the Inquisitor with them. We are to be for tried for treason in front of the Silent Brothers."

The air in the room suddenly shuddered and an icy blue wave swept through the apartment. Magnus frowned. "The wards around the building. They are here, Clary. Gather the others here. The magic is strongest in this room. I will find Alec. Quickly!"

Clary was gone already. Magnus turned to face him as the lights in the room blazed to life. Alec swung his quiver over his shoulder pulled the strap tight. "Where can we go?" Magnus demanded, his face stoney. "We need somewhere that they won't suspect."

The others had filed into the room behind him. "Can we go through a portal?" Clary asked.

They all circled around to Magnus, but he shook his head. "It needs to be somewhere unassociated with down worlders or shadow hunters. And we can not use a portal to a place that we have all not seen."

"Magnus." Alec said. "Can you get us out of here?"

Magnus ignored him and urged again. "Quickly, where is a safe place?"

"The cabin, Clary." Simon said quietly. They all looked at him. "Nana's cabin!" he said louder.

There was a crash in the front room, and Magnus lifted his hands. "There is no time," he said.

He flicked both wrists and and enormous blue wave of energy lifted from his palms with a tremendous roar. His magic filled the air above them like a thundercloud. The swirling blue and gold storm grew in size as they watched until it seemed like the room itself would shake apart.

Alec grabbed Izzy's hand as they all struggled to stay upright against the maelstrom. "Simon!" Magnus yelled over the deafening noise. "Picture the cabin! Hold it in your mind." Terrified, Simon closed his eye's. A tendril of the storm shot down at Simon like a lightning bolt and his whole body tensed as he lifted off the ground.

Alec could not take his eye's off Magnus who stood amidst the twisting hurricane of magic with his feet set firm like an anchor. Alec was stunned by the power pulsing through the room. The glamour had fallen from Magnus, and his eye's were fierce golden sparks, his cat-like pupils narrowing as he lifted his arms higher. "Brace yourself!" he warned them over the storm as he lifted his face to the ceiling and called out in a loud, otherworldly voice, "Nos autem Diabolo."

His hands came down in a blinding flash of light, and Alec felt the hair on his neck stand straight up as electricity roared through him. The deafening noise drowned out all thought. Searing pain rose up from the core of his being in devastating pulses and he heard himself shriek. Impossibly, he was falling upward at tremendous speeds through the swirling blue mass until he was sure he would simply come apart and cease to exist. Just when he was certain he could not survive another second, it was over.

One moment he knew that he was about to die, and the next he was tangled up with the rest of them on a soft rug in the living room of what appeared to be a quaint looking cabin in the woods.

The only sound was the panting and moaning of the others. He groaned and struggled to sit up, noting that they were all present and accounted for and lying in a heap in front of a cold fireplace. Magnus propped up against the couch, his mouth drawn into a thin line. His makeup was smudged, and he was alarmingly pale but he gave Alec a small reassuring smile.

Simon moaned next to him and rolled over on his back, untangling himself from a gasping Clary. "Not my favorite way to travel," he muttered. "No offense Magnus."

Magnus huffed out a laugh, "None taken."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"I made pancakes!" Simon announced. The vampire was standing barefoot in front of the stove pouring batter in a skillet as Magnus came into the kitchen. He noted that everyone, with the exception of Alec, was already at the table talking quietly around an alarmingly large plate of bacon Simon flipped another pancake, and Magnus shook his head when he saw that the boy was wearing pajama pants decorated with sleepy cartoon owls. Simon continued, "I had to walk to the neighbors to get milk and eggs, but they were really cool. I thought about waking you up so you could magic us some food, but I thought you might need to sleep after last night. I figured we could all use a big breakfast considering a what a long day it would be. Me and Clary always have pancakes when we come to the—"

"Coffee," Magnus interrupted, trying to ignore the pounding above his left temple.

"Oh! Sure, it's over there in the alcove," he gestured with the spatula in his hand, and Magnus moved to get two mugs down from the cabinet. "I put a fresh pot on just a few minutes ago," Simon continued. "That was really something last night! I knew you were magical but wow. I thought I was going to hurl when we went through that crazy vortex."

Magnus tuned out Simon's chatter and poured his coffee, noticing with a frown that his hand was trembling slightly. Not good. He added a splash of cream to the second cup and leaned against the counter. Despite the sunlight streaming through the lace curtains, the atmosphere in the small kitchen was grim. It was going to be a long day indeed.

Alec appeared in the doorway, and Magnus tried not to notice the way his body seemed to spark to attention at the boys' presence. Alec was fully geared up already in the traditional black shadow hunters uniform; his seraph blade and quiver already strapped to his back, and several wicked looking knives attached to his chest.

Bless the Angel that thought to make their gear out of tight black leather, Magnus mused to himself with a little smile as he admired the way the outfit hugged Alec's lean body. He dropped down into the chair at the head of the table, stretched his long legs in front of him, and propped his bow against the wall next to him.

"Flapjack?" Simon asked, holding a plate with a giant stack of pancakes out to Alec.

Alec looked him over for a second, and then said, "What the hell are you wearing vampire?"

Simon glance down at himself in confusion. "Um, pajama's. What do you wear to bed?"

Alec snorted, "Not that."

Magnus's memory immediately flashed to an image of Alec bare chested and hovering above him with only a dark pair of sweats hanging low on his hips. He flushed. Simon opened his mouth to protest, but Magnus pushed him gently to the side taking the plate from his hands and putting it in front of Alec.

"Eat," he said, handing him his cup of coffee. "You're going to need all the strength you can get for today." Their fingers brushed in the exchange, and Magnus pretended to ignore the way Alec moved his hand away quickly and avoided his gaze. He settled back against the counter with his coffee, shaking his head at Simon who held up another plate of pancakes in his direction.

Izzy pushed her plate back, "So Magnus. That was amazing last night. I had no idea that a warlock was capable of something like that."

He raised an eyebrow at her and took a sip of coffee. "Why thank you my dear. I do apologize for the rough ride. Transporting that many people so quickly is a bit…difficult."

"Understatement of the year," Simon muttered under his breath.

Alec stood up impatiently, pushing his chair back with a loud screech. "We are wasting time here. I can barely feel Jace through the bond anymore," Alec said. His eye's flashed, daring anyone to argue. "We need to do this, Magnus. Now."

Magnus nodded. He knew there would be no arguing with Alec despite the foreboding he felt in his gut. The amplification spell he needed to do to find Jace was risky enough when he was at full capacity. After no sleep and a draining transportation spell, it could be lethal. But he had to try.

He turned to the group, "I need as many candles as you can find and ash from a fire," he asked. Without looking at him, he addressed Alec, "Alexander, have Clary mark you with the rune for endurance. Give me a couple minutes so I can prepare before you come in." He walked to the door.

"Oh, and Alec…" The shadow hunters eye's were unreadable as he looked up at him. "Bring your blade."

xxx

Magnus stood in the ash pentagram and lit the candles at each of the corners. The sun from the windows had been completely blocked out with blankets so the room was dark. He tried to ignore the audience that stood all around the room, but as he tried to light the last candle the match dropped from his shaking hand. Across from him a lighter flicked on, and the wick caught as Alec finished the job. Magnus smiled at him gratefully, but Alec frowned back at him.

"Since when do you light candles with matches?" he asked under his breath.

Magnus shrugged. "Since I moved five people to a cabin under duress last night. It's nothing. Just conserving energy," he said unconvincingly. Alec's eye's narrowed but before he could say anything, Magnus moved to the center of the pentagram and faced the group.

His stomach churned as he thought about what he was about to do. He knew it was only a matter of time before his new friends learned his true nature. Magnus scanned the faces of the group around him and felt a twinge of regret.

It was easy for new people who drifted into his life to ignore the fact that he was a powerful warlock who's soul was half demon, especially when he was covered in glitter and throwing fabulous parties. But eventually they always asked. Eventually they always needed something from him that would force him to tap into the darkest side of himself. Magnus tamped down on the sorrow that rose up an made his throat ache.

He always could tell the moment he lost a person. The moment they realized what he was capable of, any affection or friendship they had felt would cloud over with horror. And no matter how close they had become as a friend or a lover, that moment always signaled the beginning of the end. He dreaded the possibility of seeing that look in Alec's eye's.

He raised his voice, "It is important for you all to know that once the spell starts, it can not be stopped. No matter what you see, do not enter the circle. This is dark magic. As I said before, it is not something to be trifled with. Entering the circle will only lead to death."

"What are you going to do?" Clary breathed. Magnus could only see the brassy spark of her hair in the gloom, but he addressed the whole group, "I will be opening a portal to hell and using the energy to amplify the bond between Jace and Alec."

"There's no such thing as hell." Simon said immediately.

"There's no such thing as magic, Vampire," Magnus snapped. And all of a sudden he felt unbearably weary. Like he could sleep for a decade. "But hell, I assure you from experience, is very much real…now hush all of you." He held his hand out. "Alexander."

Alec stepped into the circle. Magnus studied him for a moment. Alec's face was set, his eyes steely. In his dark battle gear, he looked every part of the soldier that he had been trained to be. Maybe this time would be different, Magnus thought to himself as he spoke. "The first part will be difficult, but you need to trust me. Dark magic requires sacrifice. I assure you that what I do next is necessary. Do you trust me Alec?" he asked quietly.

Something flickered in Alec's eye's, "You know I do Magnus."

With a quick movement, Magnus plucked one of Alec's knives from his belt. His eye's didn't leave Alec's face as he muttered the spell under his breath and stepped back. The temperature in the room plummeted, and Magnus shivered as black magic rose from his palms like thick smoke. The dark cloud sparked with blue and gold as it settled between them to reveal the figure of a man.

Icy fingers of dread spread across his spine as Magnus saw the gun cradled between the strangers hands. The man looked up and his red rimmed eye's were filled with madness. In slow motion, Magnus saw him scramble for the gun in his lap. With a cold swiftness that would shock Alec later, Magnus stepped forward smoothly, grabbed the strangers hair, and slit his throat in one clean stroke.

Someone outside the circle screamed and lurched forward but hands held them back. Magnus just watched Alec's face as the spurting blood coated his fingers. "There is much you don't know about me shadow hunter." he said softly.

Alec's pupils were blown wide, and his knuckles were white on the hilt of his glowing blade. Magnus laid the dying man on the ground and murmured, "May Lucifer take you." He grimaced as the hot greasy blood coat his fingers before standing back up and holding his hand back out to Alec.

The whole room held their breath as Alec stared at Magnus's bloody outstretched palm.

Alec hesitated. Magnus, who had been alive for centuries, looked into the beautiful hazel eye's of the man he was falling helplessly in love and saw fear. For a moment it was if he was made of glass. It was a struggle to keep his voice steady as he said simply, "He was a murderer. A killer who was on his way to slaughter his family this evening. Only mundane blood can be used as a sacrifice in dark magic. It was necessary."

Alec's face was bleak. "You killed him."

"It was a mercy." Magnus replied, the blood in his outstretched hand dripped off the silver of his rings and padded grotesquely on the ground like a gentle rain. "Take my hand Alexander, or his death will be for nothing. Our time is short."

For a moment, Magnus thought all might be lost, but Alec was a warrior. He put his hand in Magnus's, the blood slick between their palms and nodded for him to continue. "This will be unpleasant. Don't forget to breath," he instructed Alec as he closed his eye's to concentrate.

In his mind, he gathered the dark magic that thrummed through is body like an live electric wire and pushed it through the connection in their hands. He plunged into Alec's silver energy, seeing the thin black tendril of smoke that must be the parabatai bond. He swirled his magic around it firmly and felt Alec's hand tighten on his. He ignored it and called out into the pentagram, "Patrem vocals me et cos."

When the demon power hit him he staggered under it's weight and fell to his knees with a cry to absorb the pain. The black magic swirled around him and through him like icy daggers.

A pleased voice whispered seductively in his ear, "My son, you bring me the blood and memories of a mundane? Why have you called me here?" Magnus didn't respond as he mentally gathered the dark magic, struggling to contain it as he pushed toward the bond.

It was horrifying. The magic was like despair and self loathing in corporeal form. It's greasy blackness slipped through his magic like sludge, but still cut him open to the bone. His vision narrowed.

Magnus had once stood on a battle field filled with the bodies of dying men, and he had never felt such anguish as he did trying to harness the swirl of demon magic inside of him. He felt his strength slipping. With one last gasp, he pushed the dark power around the parabatai bond and watched it light up in a brilliant burst of pewter and scarlet. He felt his bones hollow out as the world faded to black around him.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Alec wiped the demon blood on his jeans and kept moving. He could hear Izzy behind him as she dispatched one of Valentine's soldiers with an almost imperceptible gargle. He signaled at the others while they slipped silent over the edge of the massive tanker ship and into the shadows. With his back against the cold steel of the boat's main deck, he could just see the New York skyline in the distance. He drew a wickedly sharp arrow from the quiver at his back and readied his bow.

Crouching, he slide to the corner to get a closer look at the main deck. The moon was mostly obscured by clouds, but it was impossible to miss the teaming mass of humanity milling around the ships cargo hold. Alec surveyed the scene in horror. There were hundreds of them. Thousands. And not demons, he thought, but shadow hunters like himself. They were bunched in small circles and it took him a second to register what they were doing. Training with glowing seraph blades like the one pressed to his side. Alec realized he was looking down at an army. An army of dark shadow hunters that could put an end to their world.

The familiar glint of a golden hair figure in the distance caught his eye and his body flooded with relief. He felt like a part of him that had been missing for days had suddenly clicked back into place. But then he noted that Jace stood perfectly balanced on the inside railing of the deck, his hand clasped behind his back, watching the men below him.

Alec knew that look on his face. It was the same look he always got in the training room; focused, all the good humor and humanity masked with cold ambition. Suddenly another figure appeared next to Jace and spoke to him. Valentine. Jace nodded at whatever was said, launched himself into a perfectly executed flip, and landed on the deck below. Alec watched his adopted brother stalk through the army of men, shouting instructions to the dark shadow hunter soldiers. Despite the warm night, Alec shivered.

For the first time since he had felt his parabatai bond flare back to life, Alec felt a moment of hopelessness. His mind flickered to Magnus lying still and pale on the ground next to the ashes of the slaughtered mundane. Simon had assured him that he was breathing, but it had taken every ounce of Alec's will power to leave him there. No matter what he felt for Magnus, Jace was his brother. He couldn't leave him.

It won't be for nothing, he thought determinedly, as he pulled back and faced the others. Izzy's blue eye's were like ice as she stood in the gloom with her whip dripping gore at her side. Her face was hard, a soldier waiting for instruction. He glanced at Clary who had hidden her flaming hair underneath one of Simon's black hoodies. He could see the raw edges of the runes he had hastily drawn gleaming on her forearm. She wasn't ready, but he had no choice. They had to move now, before Valentine gained anymore strength.

As if reading the turmoil in his thoughts, Izzy said softly, "Jace first. We'll figure out the rest from there."

He nodded but he couldn't help thinking about Jace standing over those soldiers like the general in a great army. His instincts told him that there was no way that Jace had fallen for Valentines lies. He knew Jace almost as well as he knew himself. Or at least he though he had. It was imperative that they know the inner workings of Valentine's plan. That knowledge might be the only way to beat him at his own game. The only logical explanation for Jace going voluntarily with Valentine was to gather intel. But still…

Clary put a hand on his arm, "He's not one of them Alec," she whispered fiercely. Her green eye's blazed at him in the dark, "We have to trust what we know about him. He's a shadow hunter. He's our friend. We have to trust him."

Alec straightened, and drew the long seraph blade from behind his back. "We don't have much choice do we?"

xxx

Alec sat alone in the tiny bunk room and tensed as the doorknob started to turn. They had swept like a silent vengeful mist down to the bowels of the ship, dark shadows trailing death behind them. He knew that their window of opportunity was narrowing with each passing minute. It was only a matter of time before someone would stumble across the dead bodies they had left in their wake.

Clary and Izzy were on watch in an empty room around the corner, and Alec heard them tap against the bulkhead to alert him of Jace's presence in the narrow hallway. He felt like he did when he stood balanced on a beam high up in the training room, right before he flung himself, tumbling and rolling, into space. Everything depended on the next few minutes.

His fingers twitched on the loaded bow on his lap as Jace came into the room. Alec watched his parabatai hesitate for the smallest moment before he closed the door with a metallic clang. Jace didn't immediately draw his blade, and Alec felt his shoulders relax a fraction at the small victory.

"Alec." Jace said and he was relieved to hear that his brother sounded like the same friend he had been sparing with in the training room for the past eight years. Jace didn't move from the doorway, his eye's wary.

Alec regarded Jace silently for a moment. Words were not his strength, but he chose them carefully when he said, "I don't know what is going on with you right now. I can only imagine what you've been going through these past months with your Father and Clary. But we need you, Jace. _I need you_. More then ever before."

Jace started to speak, to protest, Alec could see. But he held up his hand and continued, "I know you think maybe Valentine has poisoned you in some way. Maybe he has. But we don't care. You don't belong here. You belong with us. With Clary and Izzy…and me."

Jace sat down heavily on the bed next to him without a word. Alec saw that his eye's were rimmed with red and his usually perfectly styled hair fell limp and greasy over his forehead.

Alec continued, "There is a war coming. And there is nothing I want more then to fight by your side brother." He stood and put his hand on Jace's shoulder. "But you need to come with me now." He stared down at the man who was his brother. "There is no time for indecision."

When Jace lifted his head, his golden eye's were haunted but Alec felt the knot in his stomach loosen as his friend nodded and clasped his hand.

xxx

Magnus knew his magic was gone the minute he clawed his way back into consciousness. He sat up gasping, the hollow absent feeling in his bones turned his stomach to acid. It felt like the whole world was pressing down on him with unrelenting pressure, the very air around him was steel wool on his skin. The normal thrum of electricity that had woven it's way through his body for the past four centuries was silent. He gagged. For a moment, he was filled with such unbridled panic that he thought he would go mad.

"Thank the Angel you're not dead. Alec would have killed me…even though I'm already dead." The familiar voice broke through Magnus's terror like a knife, and he opened his eyes to see Simon kneeling next to him. The vampire leaned back on his heels and smiled in relief. "I think you stopped breathing there for a minute. I was starting to wonder if CPR works on wizards." He shuddered dramatically as Magnus struggled to sit up.

"Warlock," Magnus managed. "Wizards are Harry Potter." Looking around, he noticed that the blankets had been removed from the windows, and he could see the moonlight reflecting off the lake outside. The other's were no where in sight. "How long have I been out?"

Simon stood, and moved into the kitchen. He rummaged in one of the cabinets. "Do you want a cup of tea?" Magnus didn't answer as he pushed himself to his feet. He swayed violently and caught his hip sharply against the side table. Startled, Simon rushed back forward and steadied him. "Hey, man. Are you ok? You look seriously dreadful." Magnus managed a weak laugh as Simon helped him sit back down on the couch.

"You're not looking so hot yourself." Magnus observed, deflecting the question. Simon's face was even paler then usual and the veins around his temple had thinned to almost nonexistence. "I don't think tea is going to cut it for either of us." He waved a hand wearily toward the hallway. "I saw some whiskey hidden in that closet the other day. I'll take a double. Neat." he said.

A moment later Simon was pouring the amber liquid into a crystal tumbler. "Pour yourself one too, my pale friend." Simon hesitated and said ruefully, "I'm not sure if alcohol works on vampires."

Magnus sighed. "You really need to spend some time with your own kind. The Night Children can teach you all the things you need to know. Raphael will take you in. He owes me. In the meantime, I assure you that alcohol helps dull the hunger. And it looks like you might be hungry, Vampire." Simon nodded silently and poured him two generous fingers.

Magnus accepted the outstretch glass. When he took a sip the spreading warmth should have been a comfort but it just reminded him of the dull emptiness he felt in all his nerve endings. The magic had always kept him warm. He swirled the golden liquid in the glass as Simon grimaced on his drink. Now he felt the chill of the air around him and wondered how mortals lived this way.

"So," he started. But before he could continue there was a loud thump on the porch. Simon stood up in alarm as the door was flung open and the four shadow hunters poured into the cabin. Magnus's heart stuttered when he saw the state they were in as they stood in the doorway.

They were a mess. Clary and Izzy were on either side of Jace holding him up as he limped closer, bleeding onto the rug. The girls seemed to be uninjured but Clary's hair was so covered in demon gore that it hung limp and black as she staggered under Jace's weight.

Magnus's eye's went straight to Alec who shut the door with his heavy boot and started to undo his empty quiver before turning around. His face was almost completely obscured with the black blood of demons. There was a long scratch running from his left eyebrow to his collar bone. His shirt was torn in several places, showing the gashes he had sustained from the battle. Magnus felt a rising panic until he saw that Alec was grinning over at his parabatai.

Jace let out a whoop as the girls deposited him roughly on the other couch. "Now THAT was a fight! By the Angel, did we kick some ass!" He laughed wildly as Alec delicately sank down on the floor next to the couch, shaking his head. Izzy sank down next to Magnus and immediately reached for his hand. He was a little startled when she snuggled closer, leaning her head back on the couch and closing her eye's.

Simon hugged Clary fiercely and exclaimed, "Holy shit you guys! What the hell happened? Tell us everything! " He held her back from him and tried to wipe the demon blood from her face. "No. Forget that. Sit down first. Are you hurt? Can I get you anything? Do you need—"

Jace interrupted from his spot on the floor, "Good to see nothing's changed around here."

Clary gave him a half hearted glare as she sunk down in the love seat next to Simon. "You're bleeding on the carpet, Wayland," she pointed out. Jace responded by pulling off his tattered shirt, exposing his toned abdomen and a long shallow slice running along his side. He used the shirt to tie off the wound in his leg.

"Better?" he asked Clary with a raised eyebrow.

She smiled, "Much." Jace smirked, but his eye's softened. Magnus watched them with more then a little jealousy as they exchanged the sort of look that only two people who were in love could share. Brother and sister or not, feelings like those rarely could be denied. He had been around long enough to know that love didn't really follow the rules.

Magnus tried to ignore the fact that Alec seemed to be deliberately avoiding his gaze. His heart lurched as he remembered the look in Alec's eyes when he had cut the throat of the mundane murdered. He cleared his throat and said, "Why don't you give us the short version of what happened tonight?"

Alec pulled his shirt up to wipe some of the gore out of his eye's, and Magnus couldn't help but admire the flash of lean smooth muscle. "We got away." Alec stated. "They discovered our escape in the last few minutes but we were able to hold them off long enough to get out of there." He shrugged as if it had been nothing.

Jace reached over and slapped Alec on the shoulder with a laugh. "'He's being modest. That big guy had Clary, and I thought it was all over until Alec flipped over that ravener demon. He killed it with one swipe and then shot that bastard while in the AIR. It was awesome." Alec grinned back at his brother.

Clary started to say something but yawned instead. Amused, Magnus listened to the light snore coming from his shoulder where Izzy was resting her head and addressed the group, "As fun as this night has been, I think it's time everyone got some sleep. You can fill us in on the rest in the morning." Magnus disengaged himself from Isabelle and managed to stand gracefully even though his knees felt like water. He wondered how he was going to make his way to the bedroom without embarrassing himself.

Alec and Jace were talking quietly, no doubt about some sort of magnificent battle feat, but Simon rubbed his face with his hands and nodded. "For real. This morning feels like a million years ago." He stood up and studied Magnus in concern. "You need help? I mean, you were like dead less then an hour ago." Alec stopped talking to Jace and the rest of the shadow hunters looked over in alarm.

"What?" Alec asked Magnus, his voice deathly quiet.

Magnus met his eye's which glinted at him sharply out of his gore smeared face. "It's nothing. I used a great deal of magic over the past few days and it…affected me." Simon snorted. oblivious of the steel in Alec's gaze.

"Are you ok?" Alec asked, getting to his feet.

"I will be."

"What does that mean Magnus?"

He shrugged helplessly. He knew there was no point keeping it from the group. It was only a matter of time before they would ask him to heal an injury or conjure better coffee. He sighed and tried to keep the edge from his voice, "My magic is gone. It sucks because it makes me feel like death warmed over," He took a tentative step toward the door, trying not to sway. "but it will come back." Alec was at his side and Magnus jumped when the shadow hunter touched his elbow to steady him.

"When?" Alec asked.

Magnus shivered in the cold room, his whole body ached at the empty feeling pulsing through him, and he couldn't stop his voice from wavering when he glanced up at Alec. "I don't know."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Alec stood at the sink trying to scrub the demon blood from his fingernails in the dim moonlight that was filtering through the kitchen window. The dark living room behind him was filled with the soft sounds of the others sleeping. The tiny cabin was not designed to accommodate six people, and the girls had immediately commandeered the single bedroom. The rest of them slept where they had fallen; Magnus stretched out on the couch, Simon in a nest of blankets by the fire which had died down to just glowing red embers, and Jace scrunched in the chair. It was oddly comforting, Alec thought, to be in a room filled with all the people who mattered most to him in the world. Even if that world might be ending tomorrow.

Alec turned off the tap and leaned back against the sink as he dried his hands on a lacy kitchen towel. He had never understood how the others could sleep after a battle. His body stilled hummed with adrenaline from the fight, his muscles ticking like a spent car engine. He was sore all over, but he couldn't help a small breath of relief at the sight of his brother, still outfitted in full battle gear, snoring lightly in the other room. Alec touched the cut that ran down his face and over his collarbone idly, and finally let his gaze fall on Magnus.

The warlock was watching him. The glamour that hid his cat eyes from the mundane world had spent itself out and they glowed in the dark. Magnus had never looked so other-worldly. Alec shifted uneasily and remembered that he was bare chested after tossing his ruined shirt. His dirty jeans were slung low on his hips, unbuttoned at the top to make sleeping more comfortable.

Magnus stood silently, his movements smooth but slower then usual, like he was moving through dense air. He held the quilt that he had been sleeping with around his shoulders as he padded over to the kitchen. Magnus must have raided Simon's closet to find comfortable sleeping clothes. Alec swallowed thickly when he saw that he wore striped flannel pajama bottoms and a faded gray t-shirt that said: I CAN'T ADULT TODAY. The clothes combined with the fact that his face was scrubbed clean of makeup made Magnus look every bit of the 18 year old he most certainly was not. He knew he shouldn't find this alluring, but his cheeks flushed in the dark none the less. Magnus leaned against the counter across from Alec, his strange green eyes unreadable.

Alec hated this about him. The way Magnus could dim his beautiful vibrant self, turning quiet and watchful. It made him seem ancient and untouchable. It confused the hell out of him. Magnus confused the hell out of him. He couldn't get the image of the horrible stillness in Magnus's face when he had cut the murderer's throat or the way he stood like an anchor in the midst of an overwhelming storm of his own magic power.

Alec felt a sharp pain in his hands and uncurled the fists he had been making. He stared at the thin red half moons on his palm. Magnus had crossed his legs in front of him and was waiting silently. And for a minute Alec wondered bitterly if anything affected him. If Magnus even cared what move Alec made next. He was immortal, for Angel's sake. How important could this moment be to him in the whole scheme of his immense life? Just a shadow hunter he kind of liked, wrestling with his feelings in a dark kitchen before the world came crashing down. But then Alec watched him run a weary hand through his already messed up hair and noticed the tremor in it even from a distance.

And suddenly the responsible, logical voice in his head that was yelling at him that a relationship with the High Warlock of Brooklyn would be a disaster, started to fade away. He knew that Magnus was dangerous. That he had a mysterious past filled with unspeakably dark acts. He knew that Magnus's immortality was a impenetrable obstacle. And that explaining their relationship to the Clave would be a nightmare. But suddenly, _he didn't care_. The idea of not touching him for one more moment seemed impossible.

Magnus regarded him warily through impossibly long lashes as Alec moved toward him. He stopped, his heart an erratic bird in his chest, and reached up to brush Magnus's bottom lip softly with his thumb. Alec felt him shiver in response. He ran his long fingers down Magnus's neck and down the length of his side until he could pull him closer. Alec braced his other hand on the counter, moving forward and trapping him with his body. Magnus's green gold eye's fluttered shut at the close contact, but Alec could feel him waiting, letting him take the lead in whatever was going to happen next. His hand was on the warlocks hip as he leaned over until their lips were just barely brushing against each other. Alec let his fingers slip up inside that ridiculous t-shirt and he rasped the calloused pad of his thumb against the soft tight skin beneath his ribs, and Magnus gasped against his mouth.

Alec's heart thudded painfully once and then seemed to stop altogether as he allowed himself to capture Magnus's mouth against his own. Their lips moved together, suddenly frantic. Their tongue's mingled, and Alec made a desperate sound low in his throat when Magnus nipped his bottom lip and then soothed it with his tongue. He pushed the warlock harder against the counter, but Magnus just responded by running his hands up his back. Alec could feel his nails digging in and he tore his mouth away to lick up the warlocks neck. His jeans were tight, and he felt like he was on fire wherever there bodies were pressed together.

There were too many clothes between them. With an impossibly swift movement, he pushed Magnus up onto the counter and stepped between his legs, groaning at the contact. Somewhere in the back of his brain, it registered that he was about to go beyond the point of no return. That what he wanted to do to Magnus right now could not be achieved in a tiny cabin filled with their friends and family. But then Magnus was kissing him again and—

"Sooooo, this is awkward."

Alec froze, ripped his mouth away from the warlocks, but didn't turn around to face Jace. He was panting. _Panting._ If he turned around, the tightness in his jeans would be extremely evident. Magnus's hands were still white hot brands against his skin, but the warlock leaned forward and peered at Jace over Alec's shoulder. Alec could feel the warlock's breath against his neck when he spoke and it took every ounce of his training not to shudder in response. With shock, he realized how very close he was to release while standing in a public kitchen fully clothed.

"Honestly Jace Wayland, you have the worst timing, " Magnus said, his voice husky but annoyed.

"It's morning," Alec heard Jace state pointedly, and he noticed for the first time that the light in the room had warmed to a reddish color.

Magnus glared at Jace, but his voice was amused as he ran his nails through Alec's hair and responded, "Find somewhere else to be shadow hunter."

Jace grumbled and stomped to the bathroom. As soon as he heard the door click, Alec retreated to the opposite side of the room, gripped the sink and tried to catch his breath. Magnus slipped down from the counter and attempted to tame his hair. Alec could see with some satisfaction that the warlock was also having trouble breathing.

"By the Angel. Is it always like that?" Alec asked softly, unable to stop himself. Magnus went very still, and Alec immediately regretted the question, thinking that it made him sound very young indeed.

But Magnus just shook his head, his cat eye's impossible to read in the light of the rising sun. He seemed to turn into himself, his shoulders hunched and the long fingers of his hand twisted one of his rings around and around. Alec thought he might not answer, but then Magnus responded in a thoughtful voice that held all the weight of his many years.

"No, Alexander. It's never been like that."

xxx

Magnus sat in the sleek black SUV, flicking his wrist and watching the measly blue sparks dance off his fingertips and fade around the steering wheel. He sighed. Through the windshield he could see the rest of the group emerging from the 7-11. Simon was carrying an absurdly large slushy which Clary was attempting to drink out of as they walked even though he kept jerking it away. Magnus's stomach rolled at the idea of food. The absence of the magic that usually hummed through his veins made him nauseous. He started the car and tried to roll the tension out of his neck.

Alec pulled open the passenger door and slid in, handing over a cup of chai as he did. Magnus took it gratefully as the rest of them piled in the back. He noticed the scar that had stretched across the shadow hunters neck was silver and healing. He wondered what would happen if he reached over and ran his finger—

"I still think it's kind of weird that you can drive, Magnus," Simon commented from behind his head.

"I'm 400 hundred years old, vampire. I was there when Benz invented the car." Magnus replied in amusement as he pulled smoothly out of the parking lot.

"I shudder to think what favor was being repaid by the faery that brought us this car from the City." Jace said, sipping his coffee.

"There is much you don't know about me, shadow hunter," Magnus responded. He shrugged, "The fae got off easy, believe me. It's not everyday that a warlock can't portal to where he needs to go." He tapped his fingers nervously on the steering wheel thinking how grateful he was that the keelpie had also brought a change of clothes. He was much more comfortable in the dark skinny jeans and silver button down then in one of Simon's retched outfits.

"Well, I'm in no hurry to get where we are going." Simon mused, slurping loudly on his drink. Magnus silently agreed. After a long heated discussion over breakfast, it had been decided that they were in no position to fight off Valentine on their own. They needed the full cooperation of the Clave. But even Jace had looked nervous at the prospect of surrendering themselves.

"Yeah well, we don't have a choice," Clary said around a mouthful of nacho chips. "We need the Clave and all the down worlders on board if we are going to have any chance against Valentine's army." She reached forward and put a hand on Magnus's shoulder to offer him some chips. He flinched. The weight of her hand sent a shock of pain through his sore muscles. Alec looked over at him sharply as he declined Clary's snack.

The back seat erupted in another argument over strategy. They had decided earlier that each of them would be responsible for reaching out to a group in the down world community. Clary would ask Luke to talk to the werewolves, Simon would attempt to recruit the Raphael, Izzy would try the Fae through her relationship to Meliorn and Magnus would to reach out to any of his warlock contacts. They all agreed on this strategy.

However, that left Alec and Jace to face the Clave alone. Izzy insisted that they should all go into the Institute together to face the charges against them before recruiting. Jace had argued that they were out of time. Magnus didn't like it but he agreed. There was a very good chance that the Clave wouldn't listen. The last thing they needed was to all be locked up during the apocalypse.

"Are you alright?" Alec asked quietly, interrupting his thoughts.

Magnus shrugged as maneuvered the car through the traffic at the Holland Tunnel. "I'm fine."

Alec reached out with one finger and touched Magnus's hand where it rested on the gear shift. "The truth, Magnus."

"The truth?" He shrugged. "Not good. Magic is part of who I am. I feel weak and empty without it. Not to mention it's damn inconvenient." He was silent for a minute, but he could feel Alec studying him as if he knew there was more. "I imagine it may feel a bit like your parabatai bond being broken. I've lost a part of myself that is essential to my survival. It's horrible."

Magnus noticed that the other had gone quiet behind him, the atmosphere in the car suddenly grim.

After a few beats, Jace barked out a laugh and said, "Well, you must not feel _that_ bad since I found you molesting my parabatai in the kitchen this morning." Magnus chuckled at Alec's stricken face and held his hand out without looking. Izzy gave him a high five. Simon snorted into his slurpee while Alec shook his head. Magnus turned onto the Institutes main road, and started to say something when Izzy gasped and interrupted him.

" _Alec. The Institute,_ " she breathed.

Magnus saw the glow of flames a second later. He jerked the car to the curb next to one of the many firetrucks littering the street. The smell of smoke and hot metal filled the car. The red and orange flash of lights pulsed against their faces in time to the siren's wail as they stared in stunned silence. Flames licked clear up to the sky around the ancient old church. The sound of shattering glass filled the air. The New York Institute was completely engulfed in flames. And demons of every kind were pouring out of the front door like it was the gates of hell.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey there, readers. I just wanted to thank everyone for reading and reviewing. This is my first fan fiction, and I'm super nervous to be sharing my writing with actual humans. A special thanks to those who reviewed, it's incredibly inspiring to get a few kind words.**

 **I'm completely addicted to this story right now. It is so much fun to write that it's been distracting me from the original book I keep promising myself that I'm going to work on when I sit down. I keep thinking I'll grow out of procrastination but alas, Malec is just so darn cute! I was suppose to go to yoga today but instead I'm sitting here with my cat and my cup of coffee writing about Magnus and Alec. It could be worse!**

 **This chapter is a bit short, but I've got another good one coming up soon. Thanks again for reading and welcoming me into this cool writing community. : )**

Chapter 7

Alec's blade glowed in his hand, but he could see nothing as he plunged into the smoke and flames inside the Institute. The hastily drawn rune Jace had applied for fire resistance burned on his arm, and his eye's immediately started to water. Simon, who was especially flammable, had taken the car, but he could hear the others behind him, scrambling through the dense smoke. The body of a demon, still twitching and oozing gore, lay at his feet forgotten.

The air was so thick it was like trying to breath hot water, and he choked as he yelled his mother's name into the chaos. He didn't really expect an answer. The heat and flames were like a living thing pressing around him. He couldn't imagine anyone surviving such a thing.

He felt rather then saw Jace sweep his blade clean through a demon without breaking pace. Black ichor spewed over his face, but the air was so hot he barely felt it's burn. Izzy put her hand on his arm, pulling him toward the living quarters. Her eye's were white flashes in her already soot covered face.

They had just groped their way around another blind corner when a white hot pain flared up from his thigh. A shax demon had come out of no where, its pincer buried deep in his leg as it scrambled up his body. With an angry shout he twisted his wrist, trying to stab down at it, but the angle was wrong.

Before any of the other could react, Magnus sliced cleanly thorough the mandible that was skewering his leg and then swung his dagger up to sever the demons head neatly. There was no time for thank you's, but he met Magnus's eye just the same. Magnus flipped the dark seraph blade in his hand and winked. Alec had a second to wonder where the warlock had acquired his skills with the knife as Jace led the way down the passage. Alec forced himself not to limp as they groped their way in the dark.

The hall opened up into the family space of the Institute, and Alec was surprised to see the stars overhead. The roof had collapsed in the heat. Flames still licked out from the side rooms but this area was dripping. The steam from the dying fires evaporated immediately. Somehow the air was even thicker here, the humidity almost visible, and sweat trickled down his back.

"The fire department must have gotten here." Clary whispered.

He felt Magnus move beside him. His awareness of the warlock so much like his parabatai bond that he seemed to be able to sense wherever he stood in the room. The others gathered around to assess the steaming mess.

"They got out." Jace said next to him, in a voice that didn't broker argument. "We'd know if they didn't. We would feel something."

Alec nodded but didn't respond, surveying the damage. The home where he had trained and grown was now just a black wreckage filled with the ash covered bones of furniture. He dreaded taking a closer look, afraid that a search would reveal the bodies of his fallen friends or family. Izzy put a hand on his arm. He was surprised to see the clean streaks of tears running down her cheeks.

He started to speak, but he caught a slight movement in the corner of his eye. On instinct, he pushed his sister aside just as a glowing dagger flew end over end to bury itself in the floor where she had stood.

As it always did in battle, time seemed to slow down as the three figures moved out of the shadows. His hand had nocked his arrow and pulled the bow taunt before they had fully materialized out of the grey smoke like ghosts. His muscles tensed as he recognized the dark red outline around the black battle gear of the dark shadow hunters . The blasphemous glow of the seraph blade cast their faces in harsh shadows and light. He heard Jace curse and spit on the steaming ground as one figure stepped forward, his face arranging in an eery smile considering the circumstances.

"Valentine." Jace sneered, shoving Clary behind him even as she tried to push forward with her own dagger.

"My children," Valentine spoke softly as he moved closer, his eye's on Clary and Jace. Alec tracked him with his arrow, his fingers tight on the wire. He had never wanted to kill someone as much as he did at that moment. His body burned for it. Valentine barely spared a glance in his direction as he spoke to Jace. "Why don't you call off your troupe of baby shadow hunters? You could shoot me of course, but then you would never find out what happened to your adopted family."

Valentine casually balanced the tip of his seraph blade on the floor, leaning on it like a cane. "Maryse was particularly feisty when we took her, but I took care of that easy enough. Lightwoods never have known when to give up." Alec snarled and pulled the bow a fraction tighter, but Jace's sharp look kept him from burying his arrow in Valentines black heart.

Jace's face was a mask, all signs of his boyishness stripped away as he faced in father. "What do you want, traitor?" he said, his voice cold.

Valentine laughed, but his eye's were hard. "Don't you know by now my son? The Clave has fallen. They have lost sight of the reason the Angel sent us here. The Accords are a distraction. Shadow hunters are not meant to police the problems of demons and their children. They are monsters who deserve to be exterminated. Only then will our world be at peace." At this he cast his gaze toward Magnus, who stood next to Alec, his hands strangely absent of the blue fire that usually crackled there. "I bet you don't even know the true nature of the warlock you've chosen to do your dirty work. His father would be proud to see the way he has injected himself in your little rebel group." Magnus stiffened, but Alec didn't have time to consider his words.

Magnus stepped forward. He cocked his head, his gaze steely as he said, "I have seen many men through history who had the same ambition. You are wrong Valentine. Whether we are of the angel, mundane, or of the demon realm, our nature is in our deeds, not in our name." Magnus's voice was quiet but seemed to reverberate through the giant empty room with an intense power. "What of your parabatai, Valentine? Lucian is a werewolf. Do you believe the man you once loved as a brother is of the devil?"

Valentines features softened momentarily in grief, and Alec got a flash of the man he must once have been. A man good people had chosen to follow. "There will always be casualties in war, warlock." He started backing away from them, his men following. "The destruction of the Clave is the first step to restoring balance to a broken world. We will come and bring justice to the demon down worlders, each in kind. And when the mundane world is cleansed, we will turn our sites to Idris."

He paused, and his eye's were filled with the fire of a zealot as he stood in the rubble. "Clean up the trash," he said, his eye's flicking behind them for the first time.

Magnus gasped, and Alec felt his veins turn to ice at the sound. He turned in time to see the tip of a glowing seraph blade protruding from Magnus's chest. The warlock grabbed the end of the blade, and the sharp edge sliced through his hands, as the dark shadow hunter pulled it out of his back with a sickening sound.

Alec caught him as he started to fall, and the room burst into sound and fury. In a blur, Jace was gone as Valentine disappeared through the steam and smoke. He barely registered as Izzy spun gracefully, her whip slicing through the neck of the man behind them like a vengeful angel. And then Clary was there, helping him lay Magnus down amongst the soot and the char of the Institute.

Alec felt the panic inside of him like terrible cold waves. Magnus's face was so pale, his lips were white around the edges. _No. No. No_. Alec moved Magnus's hands, tearing at his shirt to see the gaping wound. The edges of it pulsed with blood, which ran like a dark river down the sides of his chest. He pressed his hand on the gaping hole anyway, and leaned over Magnus, his voice urgent. "Magnus, your magic. You need to use it now. I can't…" he gestured helplessly, "There is nothing I can do."

Magnus opened his lips to speak, and Alec watched in horror as a thin trickle of blood ran down his face. Magnus gasped again before rasping, "I can't, Alec. It is gone." His hands spasmed on Alec's, and he tried to laugh but lost himself for a moment in coughing. "I always wondered how I was going to die." Magnus's smile turned into a grimace and Alec felt such a sharp pain under his ribs that he almost thought they were being attacked again. "Not such a bad way to go I suppose…" Magnus trailed off, going limp in Alec's arms.

A wave of despair so thick he couldn't breath rose up in his throat. As Magnus's hand relaxed and fell to his side, Alec felt a dark hole open up underneath him. He wavered.

"Alec!" Clary gripped his upper arm so tightly that he looked at her. She gazed at him, her eye's shining with tears. "Don't give up. Magnus wouldn't."

Like a switch had been flicked, he felt resolve surge back into his veins. He reached down and shook the warlock, yelling his name into his still face. Relief washed over him as Magnus's dark lashes flickered open, and his strange cat eye's slowly focused on Alec's. Hope jumped through his body like electricity.

Magnus grimaced again. "Ow."

Somehow despite everything Alec laughed. He took Magnus's hand in both of his own. "Take my energy. You did it once before. Maybe it will work again," he pleaded. Magnus's breath was shallow but he nodded, his strangely beautiful eye's never left Alec's face.

Alec felt a tingle in his hands and then warmth traveled through his body. A bright blue flame appeared like a small sun in between their hands. He could barely hear Magnus as he muttered the spell under his breath, his lashed fluttered closed. The blue fire blossomed, enveloping them both. Magnus gasped his name and the blood pumping from the gash on his chest slowed as he lost consciousness again. Alec's heart broke open, and he sagged with with relief.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Alec wearily stroked Chairman Meow, who prowled back and forth on the windowsill, as he watched the other's leave. His whole body ached, the way it alway did after a hard battle but this time there was a hollow spot right beneath his breastbone like a bruise.

The rest of the night had been a blur. He could barely remember flashes of Simon bumping the SUV up onto the curb in front of the Institute and the harried drive through the city with Magnus in his arms as the rest of the group's angry voices swirled around him. The way Magnus's blood had soaked his shirt as he deposited him gently into the bed. How he had to gritty his teeth to will his hands steady as he dressed the wound. The long shower where he stood, head bent, under the brutal heat of the water, gasping and trembling.

Once they had all cleaned up and tended to their injuries, they had sat around the cold fireplace discussing their next move until his eye's were gritty. There was not much to discuss. In truth, their original plan to get help from the down world community was their only hope against Valentine, especially with the Clave broken.

Eventually they had all fallen asleep where they lay. Izzy's head tucked under his arm like they had slept as children. Clary and Simon upright in the love seat, Clary's head on the vampires shoulder and Jace on the ground with his feet propped up on the couch beside him. They had only rested for a few hours before the sun touched the horizon, blazing through the living room.

Alec watched from the window until they had all disappeared around corners and into taxi's. He knew that splitting up was a risk. They were stronger together. But they needed help and they needed it quickly. After promising to contact him immediately with news, they had left the apartment : Clary to recruit the werewolves through Luke, Simon to talk to Raphael, Izzy to try to convince Meliorn, and Jace to contact Idris.

Alec went to the kitchen, rummaged in the cabinet and poured the cat food he found there into the rhinestone bowl on the floor. He splashed water on his face and watched as Chairman Meow entered the kitchen, took one look at the food, and stalked away. He shrugged and followed the ridiculous cat down the hallway.

He opened Magnus's bedroom door and quietly slipped inside. The bedroom was full of the soft light of morning, dust filled sunbeams softening the edges of the mess from the night before. Alec leaned heavily against the door. Magnus was stretched out on his belly in the center of the giant bed. Alec's breath caught.

At some point the warlock must have woken in the night because he could see the golden expanse of his back rising and falling gently. The satin emerald sheets were twisted low around Magnus's hips. It was obvious the warlock wore nothing underneath. Alec groaned softly to himself.

Just when he thought he might be getting a handle on these new feelings, Magnus did something else, and he was lost. Sometimes he was terrified of being swept into it, his desire for this man so wild and unpredictable, that he was unsure of how he would survive in the end. But other times, like now, he was like a piece of driftwood in a storm, relentlessly drawn to the shore despite the rocks.

That is how he found himself sitting on the side of the bed, staring at the lines of Magnus's back, aching to trail his fingers over the muscles there, amused at the sheen of glitter that seemed to shimmer in the dip at the small of his back.

Alec took off his boots. He placed them carefully next to the bed. He paused for a beat and then dragged his shirt over his head and folded it on top of his shoes. He stood, slipped his phone out of his pocket and laid it on the side table. Magnus shifted, and Alec noticed with relief that the wound on his back had healed to just a thin pink line.

With his arms bunched under the pillow and his long lashes laying on his cheek, he did not look like a powerful warlock with demon blood. He just looked like Magnus. Alec's only hesitated a moment before he shed his jeans, lifted the covers, and slipped into the bed.

He lay on his side a for a moment, smiling at the way Magnus's black hair stuck up all over the place. Acting on instinct he shifted his body, ran his hand over Magnus's far hip and pulled him closer. Magnus sighed and rolled over to face him, the sheets dipping lower. Alec followed the movement with his eyes, and liquid heat filled his stomach. Still half asleep, Magnus smiled softly. Alec tensed when Magnus's hand slowly swept over his side, trailing fire, and his fingers ended up on his lower back, resting just under the waistband of his boxer briefs. Alec touched his face and called his name.

Magnus's blinked sleepily, his dark glamoured eyes glittered as they focused on Alec's face. His eyebrow raised, but he didn't seem all that surprised to find Alec sharing his bed. He smiled lazily, his gaze flickering down to Alec's lips.

"Well, good morning," Magnus purred. He rolled the rest of the way onto his back, stretching languidly. Alec watched the sheet slip to show the dark trail of hair running down Magnus's flat stomach, and he couldn't help but run his hand over the taut skin as the warlock stretched. Magnus hummed, and Alec felt his lower body tighten.

"Good morning, Magnus." Alec said, his voice low and husky. The warlocks smile turned wicked, and he lifted his head slightly to brush his lips against Alec's. Alec held himself absolutely still while Magnus's mouth moved under his, their tongues tangling softly together. It was a gentle morning hello kiss, but Alec gripped the sheets in his fist helplessly. He pulled away gently and Magnus made a soft disappointed sound that Alec felt in his gut. "How are you?" he asked, touching the matching pink scar on Magnus's rib.

Magnus touched the corner of Alec's mouth with one finger, tracing the outline of his lips. Alec closed his eye's as the fingertip glided gently against his skin. "Well, Alexander. I've been stabbed before." Magnus's hand had drifted to the side of his neck, resting for a moment on the pulse that fluttered frantically at the base of his throat. "The hazard of living an adventurous life for centuries, I suppose. It never feels good." His long fingers continued their trail down his side. Magnus paused to trace the slightly raised rune scar on his hip. Alec stopped breathing.

Magnus continued, "But if almost dying results in finding a beautiful half naked shadow hunter in my bed, then I might have to try it more often." Alec's muscles tensed as Magnus's nails scraped along his belly above his briefs and then trailed down his erection.

Alec's eye's flew open, but Magnus caught his gasp with his mouth. Alec saw a flash of blue fire before he fell into the kiss, and then there was nothing in the world but Magnus's mouth on his own. But then Magnus wrapped his fingers around his length, and he realized in a blinding moment of panic that he was naked in bed with another man. He started to pull away but Magnus touching his thumb to the wetness that had gathered at the tip of his arousal, and Alec saw white. He tore his mouth away, suddenly frantic to…he wasn't sure what.

But Magnus was everywhere. His lips trailed kisses like fire down his neck. His hair smelled like smoke. He muttered soothing nonsense words against Alec's shoulder. Magnus's hand was soft but firm as it stroked him. Alec tried to pull him closer, suddenly desperate to press their bodies together, to feel everything. But Magnus resisted, keeping space between them even as their lips collided again. Their tongues swept together, and Alec thought the world might splinter. He could not fathom how he had lived on the earth so long without the heat that blazed through his body. Without Magnus. Without _this_.

Magnus's movements quickened, his palm slicking the wetness from the tip to glide and twist around his shaft. Alec arched into it, his hands clenched in the tangled sheets. " _Oh God—Magnus_." Alec's hand shot out to still Magnus's wrist but then the warlock's voice was in his ear, his lips brushed softly against his earlobe as he whispered roughly, "I want to see, Alexander. Come apart for me." And so he did.

xxx

Magnus woke with a familiar vibrating weight sitting on his chest and tiny annoying huffs of fishy breath on his face. He cracked his eye's open reluctantly and glared at Chairman Meow, who purred, dug his claws into his skin to leap off the bed, and disappeared out the bedroom door. "Insufferable beast." Magnus muttered without conviction.

He stretched and put his hand out to feel the bed next to him. It was still warm. The smell of coffee drifted into the room, and Magnus smiled at himself. He was falling helplessly for the terse, repressed, warrior of a shadow hunter. A boy who could single handedly dispatch a league of demons but hadn't even been kissed until a few weeks ago. It was ridiculous. But when they had fallen asleep tangled together in the satin sheets, Magus's head on Alec's shoulder, he had felt something that he had never felt before. It was as if he had found something he didn't realize had been searching for, like for his whole long life he had been surviving by taking short breaths and for the first time in centuries he could breath deeply.

Alec's phone rang in the other room, interrupting his thoughts, and Magnus heard the murmur of voices as he stood. His whole body ached but he was relieved to feel the hum of magic once again vibrated through his veins. It would be awhile before he was back to his regular fabulous self but it was certainly an improvement. He swung his favorite black silk robe around his shoulders, a fierce Chinese dragon in golden thread twisted around the back, and cinched the waist. He padded out to the living room.

Alec was facing the window fully dressed in battle gear and deep in conversation. Magnus went to the kitchen and fixed himself a cup of coffee, amused that Alec had even found the coffee pot or knew how to use it. Magnus usually just cast a spell for his morning coffee. He took the steaming mug back out to the living room and perched on the arm of the couch, waiting for Alec to finish.

He had no doubt that Alec would do a back peddle after last night, and he tried to steel himself against it. Things had moved a bit quickly earlier, but he couldn't help himself. When he had woken up to find Alec practically naked in his bed, there was nothing he could have done to prevent himself from touching him. It had been a force of extreme will, and exhaustion, that he had stopped himself from going farther. Alec had been so far gone that he could have done anything, but he had stopped himself and his body still throbbed a bit in protest.

He admired the long lines of Alec's body as he took a sip of coffee and noted that the stiffness had returned to his shoulders. He sighed and put his mug down on the side table. It certainly wasn't the ideal time for romance, but love didn't really believe in rules, he thought again.

Alec hung up but didn't turn around right away, as he scrubbed both hands through his dark hair. The air between them filled with silence.

"Let me guess." Magnus said with false casualness, "Last night was a mistake. You never meant for it to go that far. You like me, but there is too much going on to start a delicious but forbidden relationship. You're—" Alec turned around, and Magnus cut himself off when he saw the look on his face. His cheeks where flushed but his hazel eye's where dark with desire, the look on his face almost predatory.

Alec closed the distance between them with a graceful swiftness only a shadow hunter could achieve and yanked Magnus roughly into his arms. Their bodies molded together as Alec's lips crashed into his. His tongue pushed its way into Magnus's mouth to tangle together. The kiss was all lips, teeth, and desperation. Alec tugged on his bottom lip gently and then ran his tongue along it before turning his head and deepening the kiss further and Magnus wondered dizzily how a virgin could be so damn good at kissing. He groaned as Alec tore his mouth away to kiss along his jaw, pressing him even closer until Magnus's hands twisted in the black leather jacket of his battle gear.

Magnus body tightened when Alec leaned over and whispered in his ear, "How about, I have no idea how to do this. I can barely concentrate even though the world is falling apart and the others will be here soon, because all I want to do is to take you back to bed and let you teach me what comes next." Magnus gasped and shuddered at his words. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so turned on by just _words._

Alec pulled away and placed a several soft kiss on Magnus's bruised mouth before stepping back. Magnus almost staggered, blinking up at the him. Alec winked.

"That was mean, Alexander Lightwood." Magnus said breathlessly. Alec chuckled low in his throat, sending sparks of desire across Magnus's skin.

"Yeah well, you were talking so much so …" Alec said.

Magnus lifted his eyebrows at the boy, trying to get ahold of himself. Alec leaned over to retrieve the coffee and placed it back in his hands. He continued, a pleased smirk on his face that reminded Magnus of Jace, "I know I don't know much about all this…" He waved his hand vaguely. "relationship stuff. I spent a lifetime training to be a soldier. But don't' forget I left someone at the alter for you. I figure love isn't so different then war. At least it feels like a battle to me."

Magnus huffed out a laugh and shook his head, taking a sip of coffee and trying to hide the tremor in his hands. "You are not wrong, Alec, love and war are more alike then some of us would like to admit." He sank down on the couch, continuing softly, "And no, I have not forgotten what you did at the wedding. But that day felt like the end of a love story, not the beginning. I don't know where we go from here and it scares the hell out of me."

Alec sat down on the coffee table, their knees touching almost touching. "I can't imagine you ever being scared of anything Magnus." Alec paused, gathering his thoughts. "I know there are issues that we need to address…"

"That's an understatement, " Magnus muttered.

Alec took his hand, his calloused palms already rough and familiar. Magnus watched as his long fingers twisted one of his silver rings around and around nervously.. "There's not time for all that now…All I know is that I'm not done with you," Alec said shyly with a small shrug.

Magnus smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Magnus came out of the bathroom feeling more like himself then he had in days. He'd layered a relatively conservative, deliciously expensive, pinstriped suit over a vibrant cobalt shirt that gaped open to the middle of his chest. In honor of the magic that now hummed under his skin, he had colored his artfully spiked hair with blue and gold highlights. He admired the four rings that glittered on his hands and then added a fifth exquisite silver ring inlaid with an outrageously large sapphire. Yes he was feeling more like himself, he thought in relief as he adjusted his golden cuff links.

" _Magnus."_ The low familiar voice seemed to come from the empty air behind his head. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. There was something in that voice that sounded like the shadows behind the door at night, the sudden figure in the dark parking lot, the quiet slow beeps in an ICU in the middle of the night. It was the voice of nightmares. His stomach clenched. He couldn't bring himself to face the figure that materialized behind him from an inky smoke, but he looked into the mirror and met his father's scarlet eyes.

It had been a lifetime. Several lifetimes, in fact, that he had been avoiding this moment. He studied the tall man behind him, refusing to be the first to speak. It wasn't the way his father looked that instilled fear in everyone that crossed his path. He would look like any mundane if he glamoured his startling red eyes.

He wore a simple but fashionable black suit over a mahogany colored shirt. He was thin to the point of being gaunt, his cheekbones unusually sharp. His charcoal hair was swept neatly away from his face. Magnus supposed that people on the street might say he was attractive if it weren't for the cloud of melancholy and murder that followed him everywhere. There was a shimmer about him that made your mind start to shiver and your bowels loosen. It was like looking into a black and purple oil slick, the colors beautiful but wrong. His father was, after all, one of the nine Princes of hell.

The Prince glided forward, so used to the demon realm that his movements could never be mistaking for human. "My son," he purred, "It has been far too long. Haven't you had enough playtime in this dreadful human world?" Magnus finally turned to face his father, forcing his features to stay blank despite the screaming turmoil just underneath. He was dreadfully aware of Alec in the other room.

"Asmodeus, you are a father to me in name only. Why are you here? What do you want?" Magnus asked, dreading the answer he knew was coming.

The greater demon raised his eyebrows and moved closer. He was twirling something around the long bony fingers of his left hand, and Magnus saw with a chill that it was Alec's stele. "You know what I desire boy. What I've always wanted. I want you to rule by my side in the demon world. Age and heritage have made you a powerful warlock, perhaps the _most_ powerful." Asmodeus's russet colored eye's gleamed, the ruthless ambition in them touched by madness. He circled around to Magnus's back dragging one finger along his shoulders. "Imagine it. Father and son, ruling side by side. We would be invincible."

From seemingly miles away Magnus heard footstep on the apartment stairs, the wards flashed a deep blue. He struggled to keep his voice light. "I feel like we've had this discussion. It was a few centuries ago so I'll refresh your memory: I pass."

He felt his father lean forward over his shoulder, his hot breath like carrion in his ear. Magnus shuddered then, unable to maintain the pretense of calm as his father breathed, "We shall see about that, my son."

Magnus felt him leave, like a dimmer switch had been turned back up; the world brightened around him. It was like stepping out of a funeral home into a bright summer day. The feeling of his father's presence was a physical grim on his skin, and he wondered if he had time to shower again.

He sank to the floor. Something gleamed on the ground in front of him. Dread hit him like a wave. He picked up Alec's stele. His hands started to shake.

xxx

He didn't have time to fall apart. He heard the door to the loft open and the murmur of voices as someone came in. It would be moments before they would come and find him. In a daze, he rose from his knees, fixed the smudge kohl around his eyes as well as he could considering the state of his nerves, and pinched color back into his cheeks. It took several tries before he was able to paste a semi convincing smile on his face. He didn't look in Alec's direction when he came into the living room, but he saw the shadow hunter frown at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Magnus!" a familiar voice exclaimed right before he was assaulted by a tiny but exuberant red head. Taken by surprise, he steadied himself and embraced her back just as Izzy hugged him from behind. He staggered again, feeling pleased.

"To what do I owe all this affection, my dears?" he asked as they released him. Clary smiled up at him, relief clear on her face.

"We're just really glad you're okay," Clary replied.

Isabelle socked him on the shoulder. "You almost died you stupid man! The last time we saw you, Alec was carrying you into the loft and you were covered in so much blood we were sure you were going to die." She hit him in the same spot again.

"Ow!" he said, rubbing his arm and giving her a mocking wounded look. He glanced over at Alec, wondering for the first time what it must have been like for the shadow hunter to watch him almost bleed out on the charred Institute floor. Alec's looked back but his eye's were unreadable. Damn him for being tall, dark, and mysterious.

"You can repay me for not dying by kindly not hitting me anymore." Magnus said, secretly pleased by their concern. It had been a long time since anyone but a handful of warlock friends truly cared if he lived or died, perhaps not since Tessa and Will. It was a hazard of living so long that people passed through your life like ghosts. Regardless, he found that he was starting to get attached to this strange little group.

Alec strode over to them. "That's enough, you two. Report in," Alec demanded, but he put his hand on his sister's shoulder as he said it. Izzy smiled and nodded, but Clary rolled her eye's and winked at Magnus as they settled onto the couch.

Isabelle spoke first, "Meliorn was sympathetic to our cause. He knows that Valentine is set on destroying all down worlders, but the Seelie Queen believes the best course of action is to lay low. Meliorn said he would try to convince her otherwise, but she is decidedly headstrong. I don't think we will get any help from the fae." Izzy shook her head in frustration and glanced at Clary. "Hopefully you have better news?"

Clary's face was troubled. "It was the strangest thing. I went to see Luke, but the Jade Wolf was abandon. Nothing was out of place." She shrugged helplessly. "It was like they just up and left. It was super weird."

Alec rubbed his forehead and groaned in frustration. "This just gets better and better," he muttered to himself. Glancing at his watch, he glared at the door. "Where are Jace and Simon? We don't have time for this."

Magnus decided it was time for some good news. "I've made contact with a couple warlock's who are willing to help, or uh, owe me favors."

"Great. Two warlocks. We're certain to win now." Alec said, his words laced with sarcasm. Magnus could see the bruised shadows under his eyes so he didn't take it personally.

"Nice pep talk boss," Clary snapped.

Magnus held up his hand. "Children, children. That's enough bickering. It helps nothing." He snapped his fingers and suddenly the coffee table was stacked with boxes of pizza. The smell of sausage and pepperoni quickly filled the apartment.

"Hey, your magic's back!" Clary exclaimed.

Magnus reached for the sausage and mushroom box, noticing with satisfaction that his hands were steady as he folded his slice in half. "I wouldn't summon any demons for awhile but most of it's back," he said with a shrug.

Clary was about to respond when they heard heavy footsteps on the stairs. The door slammed open with a crash as Simon stumbled into the room covered in blood. His face was flush with color like it did after a feed. "The Demort," he gasped out just as Clary reached him. She grabbed at him, but he batted her hand away. "It's not my blood," he said before anyone could ask.

Magnus stood as two other figures came into the room, and he was surprised to see one of them was Luke, his clothes ragged. He had a large gash on his forehead that was trickling blood down his face, and he held his left arm tight against his body. It was clear something terrible had happened.

He was even more surprised as Raphael stepped into the loft and closed the door behind him. The vampire was in a tailored light grey suit that was an immaculate contrast to Simon and Luke state of disarray. Raphael immediately met Magnus's eye from across the room, arching one manicured eyebrow in his direction.

"What happened here, vampire?" Magnus asked, ignoring the others in the room. Simon looked up to answer, but then stopped in surprise when he realized that Magnus was talking to Raphael.

"You two know each other?" Alec asked curiously as Izzy led Luke to the couch, trying to examine his head even as he waved her away.

Raphael stood in the center of the room eyeing Magnus distrustfully. "You could say that."

Magnus snorted, "You think you'd be a little more grateful after all these years vampire."

Raphael shrugged his elegant shoulders. Alec's head swiveled between them, his brow furrowed. "I do not care to be in anyones debt." Raphael answered as he made his way further into the room.

Magnus sat back down, crossing his long legs and leaning back against the couch. "Better in debt then dead, I always say," Magnus responded. Raphael's eyes softened as if he was remembering something, and then he smiled slightly at Magnus. Simon was watching the two of them with his mouth hanging slightly open. "An immortal life debt is a long one, Raphael," Magnus continued. Will you owe me another by the end of the night?" Raphael settled down next to him, resting his elbows on his knees.

Magnus noted for the first time that he had been mistaken about the condition of the vampires suit. The charcoal gray color was hiding a faint dusting of ash that covered him from head to foot. Magnus sat up.

Raphael stared down through his hands. "Perhaps, warlock." He paused and his shoulders sagged ever so slightly. When he spoke again, his voice was bitter. "Valentine took the Hotel Dumort. He attacked while the Institute was under siege. He slaughtered many of my clan. Only the werewolves came to our aid."

"Why would the werewolves help you? Vampires and werewolves hate each other." Alec interrupted.

Raphael and Luke exchanged a look that spoke of decades of history. Luke responded, "The Night Children and the Moon Children made a pact many centuries ago to come to each others aid under extreme circumstances. Shadow hunters do not concern themselves with the well fair of down worlders unless a law is being broken. We understood long ago that we could not depend on the Nephilim."

Magnus nodded, looking in Alec's direction for the first time since entering the living room. Alec paced in front of the window, his whole body tense. Magnus could see that he was at war with something inside of himself. A battle between the truths he had always been taught and the reality of the world. Alec shook his head in denial, but he did not protest.

Raphael turned to Magnus, his eye's bleak. "Valentine came during the day. He used the Forsaken to drag my people out into the sun." He paused, swallowing. "Magnus, I watched my family burn."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Alec slipped through the service entrance at the back of the Hotel Dumort like mist and paused for a moment to let his night vision rune adjust to the dark. The air in the basement was still and thick with the smell of mildew. Giant hulking shapes rose out of the shadows, revealing themselves to be piles of abandon furniture covered in gray sheets and a dense layer of dust. Alec waited with his hand on his bow while Jace and Magnus slid in behind him. The large room had the distinctly hollow feeling of having been abandoned for many years, but Alec spoke over his shoulder in a whisper anyway, "Where to Magnus?"

Magnus glided past him, soundless and nearly invisible wearing all black. It was the first time Alec had seen the warlock dressed in something that didn't look like he had just stepped out of a nightclub. Magnus wore tight leather pants and a simple black t-shirt that hugged his lean frame. Even his makeup was toned down to simple dark kohl underneath his eyes. The strap of leather slung across his chest glittered with several wicked looking knives, and a faint aura of blue fire shimmered in the air around him. He was dressed for battle, and Alec was surprised to find that it made him nervous.

They followed Magnus through the maze of discarded junk to a doorless room tucked underneath the stairs. Alec held up his witch light. The soft white glow revealed a small space with a surprisingly neat cot, a rickety desk, and a small upright freezer that hummed quietly in the corner. It smelled of rot. Magnus sat on the cot, pulling himself back against the wall with one knee bent.

"Raphael sometimes uses this room for…company," Magnus said, his voice quiet. "The other's never come down here. We will be safe until we get the signal."

Alec nodded. They were the second wave of a two part battle plan. Izzy, Simon, and Clary were leading the rest of the werewolves and vampires in a frontal attack of the hotel at dusk. Alec, Jace, and Magnus were the nasty surprise at the end of the fight. Hopefully they would be the tipping point for taking Valentine down, although it seemed like hopeful thinking to him, Alec mused.

Jace's assessed the space before he claimed the only chair, balanced his seraph blade on his lap and propped his boots on the desk. Alec leaned against the door jam.

Jace studied Magnus from across the room, something dangerous flickering in his eyes that Alec recognized with a sinking stomach. "I didn't know you knew Raphael," Jace remarked casually.

Magnus looked back mildly. "That is a story for another time, shadow hunter."

"As you say warlock. But he _is_ a vampire. How can we fight this war without knowing who to trust?" Jace responded, tapping his fingers on the handle of his sword.

Alec watched Magnus take a small dagger out of a hidden pocket. He proceeded to clean his fingernails with it idly, peering at Jace through his dark eyelashes. If Alec closed his eyes he could still taste the salt and smoke that had clung to Magnus's skin as they tangled in the sheets He swallowed at the memory. It seemed like a million years ago.

This Magnus looked dangerous sitting on the bed with the thin pupils of his cat eye's blown wide, swallowing all the color until they were almost black. The dagger in his hand glinted in the dark and the sharp burning metallic smell of his magic filling the room.

Alec's stomach churned in confusion. Magnus had been distant all day, seeming to be everywhere that Alec was not as they planned and plotted the retaking of the Dumort. If he didn't know better Alec could have sworn Magnus was avoiding even meeting his eye, and he wondered for a moment if he had done something wrong. He silently cursed himself for acting like a school girl when their lives were in mortal danger.

Now Magnus's eye's narrowed at Jace with barely contained anger. "The down worlders have been trusting the Nephilim for ages now despite being shown again and again that they are willing to cast us aside for their own best intentions." Magnus's voice dripped with contempt, blue fire simmering across his skin. "I can assure you that Raphael is on our side. It is not necessary for you to know how I know. Do not underestimate someone defending their home, shadow hunter. Especially a vampire."

Magnus smiled at Jace but it was cold— stripped of humanity. He continued, "You dare ask me who to trust? Where is your Clave now, Jace Wayland? Where is their honor now that the down world is in danger? They hide in Idris behind the wards put their by warlocks while we are slaughtered," he said bitterly. Alec straightened, shocked by the distain in Magnus's voice. The chair creaked as Jace sat up violently, but Alec stepped forward with his hands out.

"Enough," Alec said, glaring down at Magnus. "The Clave has called a counsel meeting. They need time to determine the best course of action. They will be here in time to fight with us, I am certain." Alec did not wait for a response before he pointed at Jace. "And you. Stop being your insufferable self. Magnus has never given us a reason not to trust him."

Magnus and Jace both opened their mouths to protest, but the sound of Alec's phone vibrating stopped them. Alec's heart stuttered, and he felt the terrible wonderful rush of battle in his veins. When he grinned down at the two of them it was without humor. "It's time," he said.

xxx

Alec came out of the portal shooting, his hands a blur as they moved from quiver to bow. The air was filled with the scream of metal against metal and the copper tang of blood. The first arrow he let loose buried itself in the eye of a forsaken that had Raphael by the throat. The forsaken fell, but Alec didn't take the time to see what happened next.

He rolled to his right, nocking his bow while moving, and let another arrow fly as he crouched in the entrance to the hotel's lobby. The arrow lodged itself in the neck of a dark shadow hunter that was bearing down on Izzy. He dropped the sword and screamed. Izzy's blade disappeared into the man's chest, cutting off his cries. She grin across the room at Alec, the flash of white a crescent moon against the inky black gore covering her face.

Alec didn't have time to grin back. He felt rather then saw his parabatai move behind him, as he rose and spun. Alec caught the handle of the seraph blade Jace tossed to him and sliced down at the forsaken who rushed up the steps at him, slashing through the soft flesh of his belly. The monster staggered and fell at his feet. Alec kicked him and flipped the blade back behind him which Jace caught neatly in the air as he turned from his own dead forsaken. "Thanks," he said over his shoulder as Jace came up beside him.

Jace put his hand on his shoulder as they paused for a moment, taking in the madness in the decaying lobby. Dark shadow hunters cut their way across the floor while vampires and werwolves fought side by side. Alec could see that their people struggling. The forsaken were lumbering, slow, and stupid, but they made up for it in sheer number. The air swirled with the ash of fallen vampires and the sharp tang of blood. Izzy stood in the center of the turmoil, the crack of her golden whip cutting through the groans of the dying.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of red hair and Clary appeared, cutting her way out of pile of forsaken, her blade dripping with black ichor. Jace was gone from his side in an instant.

He scanned the room for the rest of them and caught sight of Simon, standing completely still amongst the chaos. His head was bent over the neck of a dark shadow hunter as if they were dancing to a slow song that no one else could hear. Alec released another arrow, which spun the forsaken who had been just about to reach the vampire. Simon lifted his head, his chin dripping with blood. When he smiled at Alec from across the room, his teeth were stained with red.

And then, over the sound of curses and metal, Alec heard the sound of chanting. The words were beautiful and foreign. Alec's skin pricked. Magnus's voice rose over the roar, echoing through the room until the spell pierced through the din. The whole room hesitated, frozen in the middle of movements.

Alec turned to the warlock behind him. Magnus was on fire. His body seemed to glow from within, sparks of gold danced across his skin. A cobalt light swelled in the palms of his hand as his voice crescendoed. Alec squinted against the brilliance. A cry rose up from the room, the battle forgotten.

Magnus gracefully stepped back with one foot, gathering his hands around the giant spinning sun of blue fire. He looked like a dancer as his wrists twisted and spun. With one last wave, he took a deep breath and pushed the pulsing flame of magic into the room. Alec braced himself at the last moment. He expected the wave of magic to burn, but it passed through him like a frozen wind off an arctic ocean.

The blue flames washed over the room like a giant tide and the forsaken fell in its wake. They crumbled where they stood as if the hand of the Angel had reached down and pulled their lives away.

The silence in the room was almost as deafening as the chaos had been moments before.

The dark shadow hunters moved first, realizing they were now outnumbered by more then half. They scrambled into a haphazard circle, back to back in the middle of the room. Many of them were bleeding and injured but they brandished their swords, loyal to the end. Jace shouted, his seraph blade flashing as he leapt forward.

And like a switch being thrown, the room erupted with the clang of swords and the grunts of battle. Alec lifted his bow, sighting at the remaining dark soldiers, when a movement on the opposite side of the lobby caught his eye. If he hadn't been aiming, he would have missed the figure slipping out one of the doors. Valentine.

"Magnus!" Alec cried out as he took the stairs with one jump. He didn't look around, pushing and slashing his way across the floor, but he could feel Magnus moving behind him.

Half way across, he ran his blade through a dark shadow hunter and found himself shoulder to shoulder with Jace. His brother was fighting off two enemies at the same time, the twin blades in each of his hands like the silver blur of hummingbird wings in the air. Alec paused as if to help, but Jace met his eye's wildly. "Valentine," Jace shouted, slashing almost absently through the arm of one of the soldiers who keened and stumbled. "Get Valentine, Alec!"

Alec ran. He raced through the door where the madman had disappeared, and skidded to a stop at the end of the long hallway. Magnus slid in behind him, his hand like a brand on Alec's back. They just caught a glimpse of Valentine slipping through a door, when a pair of dark shadow hunters stepped out. The glow of their seraph blades cast sharp shadows on their faces, their eye's hard. Magnus leaned forward, and whispered quickly in Alec's ear. "Find a way through, and I will hold them off. Get to Valentine."

Alec turned his head to look at the warlock. Magnus held a dagger in his fist, the blue fire dancing around him, and when he met Alec's gaze his golden cat eye's glowed. Alec felt a pressure in his chest, like there were words that he needed to say. He cast around desperately, and opened his mouth to speak. Something flickered in Magnus's eye's, and he nodded as if he understood something that Alec couldn't even articulate. But the men in the hall had swords and were moving forward quickly. Magnus shoved him urgently toward them. "Go Alec."

Alec sprung into action, racing forward so suddenly that the dark shadow hunters hesitated just enough before bringing up their swords. Alec pivoted, the edge of one sword slicing shallowly across his chest, as his blade met the other's with such force his wrist ached. Pain blossomed across his skin, but he used the momentum of his body to push against where the two blades met. The man faltered, and Alec was able to twisted away. He heard one of them yell out as a flaming blue dagger stuck in his shoulder, but Alec was gone,nocking his arrow and through the doorway before they could react. He spared the barest of moments to worry about Magnus before turning his attention to the man in front of him.

Valentine stood, framed in the light of a window, his chest heaving. His left side was saturated in blood, and he held out both of his hands to show that he was unarmed. Alec lifted his bow and set another arrow. He raised it to his cheek. Valentine opened his mouth as if to speak, a small smile growing on his face.

Alec shot him. The arrow buried itself in Valentine's shoulder even as Alec's hand blurred to his quiver once again and let the second arrow fly. Valentine cried out, the second arrow sunk deep in his leg. He sunk down to one knee.

"I have no interest in anything you have to say," Alec barked. "You are under arrest, by order of the Clave. Surrender, and I will consider not killing you."

Valentine let out a choking laugh. The blood running down his leg seemed black in the dim light. "Remind me not to underestimate you again Alec Lightwood."

Alec kept his bow trained on the man. "You won't have another chance."

Valentine leaned on his bent knee heavily and pushed himself slowly to standing. He lifted an eyebrow at Alec and grinned. "Oh I think I may," he replied softly.

With shocking speed the older shadow hunter threw himself to the side, simultaneously throwing the blade he had hidden in his sleeve. The knife sunk into the flesh of Alec's shooting hand and the arrow that had been nocked went wild, skimming across Valentine's cheek. Blood bloomed in a thin line, dripping down his face. Alec was moving again, hissing as he wretched the blade from his hand, flipping the handle into his palm.

Valentine started to run, but Alec was already on him. He shoved Valentine forward until his back hit the wall, holding the bloody blade up to the man's neck. Valentine grinned, his eye's filled with madness.

And suddenly, Alec felt something plunge into his chest and grip his heart. Valentine stared back at him, his eye's fathomless but startled. Alec felt his bones turn to water, and pain rippled through him, a cold wave that seemed to originate from his core. A strange image of blood red eye's hovered in his shattering mind. His breath came in short shallow gasps as he sunk to his knees, the knife slipped from his limp fingers and clattered to the floor. An ever growing black fog threatened the edges of his vision. From a great distance he heard Valentine laugh, but he couldn't think past the dark oily feeling slipping through his veins. He struggled to raise his head.

Valentine filled his vision. The man held a blazing seraph blade against his throat. He shook his head, spatters of blood flying. "Such a waste of talent. I should have liked to have you drink from the cup, Alexander." Alec felt the edge of the sharp blade nick his throat before Valentine raised it. He thought of Magnus then. His heart filled with something he could not name.

And then the magic was all around them, a storm of blue fire and light. Valentine staggered, roaring as the sword flew from his fingers. Alec fell to his hands, his vision narrowing like he was looking through the wrong end of a telescope. Magnus stepped next to him. His green gold eye's blazing with fury as he drove Valentine back. The dark shadow hunter held up his arms to ward off Magnus's attack but stumbled backwards. The sound of breaking glass broke through the waves of pain pulsing through him, and Alec looked up in time to see Valentine stumble backwards through the window. Shards of glass he didn't feel rained over him as he collapsed on his back.

Magnus's magic was on him then, flooding through him like sinking into a warm bath. The pain drifting away as suddenly as it had come, but he continued to fall. The darkness welcomed him. Just before the blackness swallowed his vision, he heard Magnus curse from miles away and say a name. Alec thought it sounded like Asmodeus.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Magnus slumped at the foot of the bed examining his hands. His nails were a wreck. The glittery purple polish was chipped and broken in places from battle. The cracks of his palms were caked with drying lines of blood. They should have been shaking, he thought, but his hands were steady. The frigid numbness that had washed over him when his father had materialized behind Alec was a persistent vice around his lungs. The oxygen in his bedroom felt thin, and he couldn't seem to take a deep breath.

Mechanically, his fingers fumbled with the leather straps around his chest. He unbuckled the knife harness and set it down, ignoring dark streaks that smeared on the comforter. He hauled his mangled shirt over his head and used it to wipe some of the filth off his face.

His mind kept replaying the moments of the day, like an appalling home video stuck on repeat. He watched again and again as his father stepped out of the shadows and sunk one ghostly hand through Alec's back to squeeze his heart. Asmodeus had turned his blood-filled eye's to Magnus in triumphant, and he had seen the horrible question written on his fathers face. The demon had laughed, an abhorrent sound that had caused Magnus's stomach roll. He watched the pain rip across Alec's face when his father let go. He saw him fall. The world had dulled and muted as if he had been forced into icy water with his eye's open.

And then Jace had been there, roughly pushing him aside, and Asmodeus had become smoke. Magnus had watched in mute horror as Jace bent over his parabatai's still body. With shaking hands he had applied the healing rune to his brother's shoulder. The rune had flared brightly before turning silver and fading into Alec's skin. Jace had been yelling his brothers name when the room was suddenly filled with people. Shadow hunters and down worlders had surged into the room, fresh from the victory of battle. Completely numb, Magnus had let the jostling bodies push him away from Alec like a tide.

Alec had woken slowly and then all at once. Magnus had barely been able to see him through the crowd, his back pressed against the wall. Alec's hazel eye's had snapped open and when Alec gasped, Magnus had gasped along with him. With a rush, the world had flooded back into sharp, painful focus, and Magnus had let himself slide bonelessly down the wall.

He could still feel his pulse thudding in his ears at the memory. Magnus ran his fingers through his hair, contemplating a shower but too exhausted to stand. He rolled his neck, trying to loosen the tight muscles in his shoulders.

They did not have time for much rest or reflection. The attack had not been a complete victory. Valentine's body had not been found. They had left Raphael and Luke at the hotel to rally their clans. In the chaos, Magnus hadn't even spoken to Alec. The two parabatai had taken control immediately. Jace had given them a couple of hours to regroup before they were to leave for Idris. Valentine had taken a hit, but he was still out there somewhere. They needed to strike while he was weak. And that meant an appeal to the Clave.

Magnus knew he should change. His clothes were torn and singed. He had a long shallow cut on his forearm, and his breath hitched from what he suspected was a fractured rib. He still glowed with magic, blue embers crackling just under the surface of his skin.

Magnus's heart stuttered as Alec strode in, quietly closing the door behind him with one heavy boot. The shadow hunter was in a similar state of disarray. His gear was torn across his chest, and a thin line of blood marred his neck. He was unusually pale, his dark hair a stark contrast to his skin as it fell haphazardly across his forehead. Alec unbuckled his weapons belt and placed it on a table with a clatter. He shrugged off his jacket and added it to the pile. He leaned forward to assess himself in the mirror, rubbing at the blood and grim on his face. Magnus flushed as Alec's shirt rode up to show the toned muscles of his back.

Magnus felt like the gravity of the earth must have shifted, because he felt helpless to stop himself as he made his way over to the lean shadow hunter. There were a million reasons why he should send Alec away, but he couldn't think of a single one as he stood behind him.

And for some reason the day hit him all at once and suddenly he was shivering—violent whole body shivers that dashed any hopes he had of asking how the boy was doing. Dashed any hopes he had of hiding anything.

Alec let out a surprised huff of breath as Magnus pushed him against the wall roughly. He stepped in between Alec's legs, molding their bodies together and dragged the boy's mouth down to his. Alec tasted like copper and salt. Startled, Alec's hands came up and pushed through his hair. Magnus turned his head, deepening the kiss, sweeping his tongue inside Alec's mouth as their breath mingled. He made a desperate pleading sound in the back of his throat when Alec finally responded, gripping his hips and pulling him even closer. He gasped as the shadow hunter's calloused fingers grazed the small of his back. Inpatient, Magnus flicked his wrist, and Alec's shirt burned away. Alec's head rolled back as Magnus's lips traced the rune along his collarbone. "Magnus," Alec managed, his voice so low and guttural that Magnus almost lost himself completely.

But then Alec was pulling away, his hands still on Magnus's hips to keep him close. "Magnus," Alec said against his hair, kissing his temple. "Magnus, look at me." Steeling himself, Magnus looked. Alec's whiskey colored eye's were dark with desire, the green specks flashing as he searched Magnus's face.

"I'm okay," Alec said.

Magnus realized that he was still shivering, his whole body convulsing. Magnus leaned his forehead on Alec's broad shoulder, trying to catch his breath. He felt foolish, but he couldn't seem to pull himself together. Alec's thumb was on the hollow of his hip, slowly stroking it. It was meant to be a comforting gesture, but it trailed fire along his sensitive skin. Magnus tore himself away and staggered back across the room to sink down on the bed. He put his head in his hands.

Magnus felt wildly out of control in a way he had never experienced before. His mind flashed on the great loves he had seen over the course of centuries. He thought of Will and Tessa and Jem. Was it possible that he had been wrong all these years? Was this painful all consuming feeling love? He thought of Camille. His feelings for her had been so real at the time but now they seemed dim and colorless compared to the technicolored feeling of just being in the same room with Alec. A door had opened in his heart that he hadn't even known was closed. The pain and joy of being with this man was so sharp that it felt unbearable.

He suddenly remembered with keen-edged clarity a time centuries before when Will had visited his flat in London. The boy had been devastatingly in love with Tessa and broken with fear about losing Jem. Magnus remembered telling him that life was about bearing unbearable loss. He was suddenly ashamed of his presumption. He had known nothing.

Alec crossed the room and knelt in front of him. As if sensing that there were no right words, Alec leaned forward and kissed him softly. His lips were achingly gentle, barely brushing Magus's. His tongue darted out to brush against the seam between their lips. Magnus opened for him, forcing back the rising panic at the rush of emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. Alec pushed him back on the bed, their mouths still tangled together.

Magnus sighed as their skin slid together, and Alec's mouth moved to lick and nip at the spot above his collarbone. Alec hovered over him, his knees bracketing Magnus's hips. Magnus felt his whole body flush, and he forced himself not to grind his hips upward as Alec sat up. He admired the lean muscles in Alec's chest and stomach, running his fingers over the smooth hard skin. Alec's tongue came out to lick his bottom lip as he looked down at Magnus stretched beneath him. And then his hands were on Magnus belt buckle. "Alec," Magnus choked out, his hand wrapping around Alec's wrist. He shook his head.

Swiftly, Alec used one hand to bracelet Magnus's wrists together and lifting them over his head. Alec captured his lips again, until Magnus felt his whole body melt. The shadow hunter kissed his way along his jaw, his breath against the shell of his ear making Magnus squirm. "Do _not_ move your hands," he demanded huskily. Magnus nodded helplessly.

Alec skimmed his hands down Magnus's body, trailing his finger along the waist band of his pants before tugging them off. Magnus moaned as the air hit his arousal, and he tried to stay still as Alec brushed his fingers lightly down his erection. His whole body twitched.

Alec bent his head toward his lap, and Magnus almost came right there. His hands gripped the shadow hunters hair, and Alec surged up over him, forcing Magnus's hands above his head once again. "You don't follow direction very well do you?" Alec asked, his eye's hooded.

Magnus arched into Alec's body, feeling fire wherever their skin touched. "Alexander," he moaned softly under his breath.

Alec was staring down at him, his face a mask of desire and something else that made Magnus's pulse quicken. "When you say my name…" he said, trailing off. His lips crashed on Magnus's again and it was less like kissing and more like they were trying to consume each other. This time, when Alec tore his mouth away, it was to kiss his way down to the hollow in Magnus's throat. His mouth trailed across his chest, and down to the tight skin of his stomach. Magnus felt Alec smile against his belly as he kissed the place where his navel would have been.

His whole body tensed when he sensed where this was going, and then he felt Alec's hot breath against his arousal. He shuddered, but felt Alec hesitate. "Magnus," Alec breathed. Magnus looked down and the sight of Alec bending over him was so wonton and wild that his whole body flushed with heat. He searched for something wise and reassuring to say to his virgin lover when Alec's mouth covered him, and words fled his mind. He arched his neck back, helpless as he came up off the mattress. Alec's hands shoved his hips down as his tongue traced the length of him. And then he was taking him into his mouth and it was so hot and wet that Magnus brought his hands down to fist in the sheets.

Alec swirled his tongue around him, and Magnus felt something wild break open inside of him. The tight grip he usually held on the magic inside of him loosened until it spiraled around them in a storm of blue and gold sparks. He grabbed at it desperately with his mind as the heat inside of him grew. With the last rational thought, he pushed the spinning magic at Alec, letting the shadow hunter feel what he was feeling. Their senses twisted and tied together as one. He felt rather then saw Alec tense as the magic did it's work.

Alec groaned and the vibration made Magnus's skin prick as he tipped on the precipice. Alec brought his hand up to stroke around the base of Magnus's erection as his tongue spread the wetness that had gathered at the tip. The magic burned in the air around them, and when Alec took him in his mouth again the light behind Magnus's eyelids sparked into fireworks. He lost all control as the waves of passion rose up and consumed him. His magic was lightning across both their bodies. He barely registered Alec moaning his name as they both found their release, the world exploding into color and light.

xxx

After, they lay side by side staring at the ceiling while trying to catch their breath. Blue sparks still shimmered in the air around them. Alec spoke first. "Um, I've never done that before."

Magnus chuckled quietly and rolled on his side. "I'm aware of that." Alec was avoiding his eye's, still staring at the ceiling so Magnus continued, "In case you didn't notice—I like it." He moved closer, wedging himself under Alec's arm until their bodies were pressed together. Alec reached over and brushed the hair out of Magnus's face.

"It's more then a little intimidating doing this for the first time with someone who's been alive for centuries," Alec said softly.

Magus smiled against his skin, "You did just fine."

Alec frowned. "Fine?"

Magnus laughed out loud this time, idly running his finger along the runes on Alec's damp chest. He leaned over and traced one with his tongue, loving the way the boy shuddered under him. "More then fine, Alec. You were like a young sex god."

He expected a chuckle but there was such a long silence that Magnus propped himself up on his elbow to look down at Alec. He touched the furrow between his brow. "What?" Magnus asked.

"That thing you did with the magic, uh, is that normal?"

Magnus paused, trying to decide how to answer. "If you are asking if I've ever purposefully used magic to enhance a sexual experience, the answer is yes. It's one of the perks of dating a warlock," he joked. Alec didn't laugh, his eye's still searching Magnus's face. He sighed, and turned on his back, his head still cradled by Alec's arm. He stared at the ceiling for a beat and then shrugged before continuing, "but if you are asking me if I've ever lost control of it before like that, the answer is no."

And then Alec was looking down at him, and Magnus could see the way his honey eyes had a dark green band around the pupil which was shot through with golden sparks. His black hair was in complete disarray, falling in charming spikes over his face.

Magnus noticed for the first time that Alec had a bruise on his temple, and he reached up to touch it gingerly. He let his thumb slide gently over Alec's eyebrow, down his sharp cheekbone, and over his swollen bottom lip. "Alexander," he breathed, "I thought I knew what love was, but this…" Magnus felt a terrible ache in his chest. "I have never known this."

He didn't expect a response, but Magnus couldn't bare to see the fear and doubt on Alec's face so he surged up and kissed him. He kept his lips gently, trying to show him without words what he couldn't say. As they kissed, Alec's thumb touched the corner of his mouth and for a moment Magnus was sure he had never felt anything so sweet.

He was so preoccupied that he barely heard the jingle of Alec's phone. But the shadow hunter turned his head, narrowing his eye's at the bedside table where the phone fell silent. He looked back down at Magnus and kissed him lightly one more time before rolling to the side.

"That's my warning alarm," Alec said. "In 30 minutes Jace will be banging on everyone's door." Magnus groaned and put his forearm over his face. Alec poked him in the side. "You go take a shower while I take a power nap. Then I'll do the same for you, okay."

Magnus nodded reluctantly but rolled off the bed. He padded over to the bathroom, feeling Alec's gaze the whole way.

"Magnus?"

He paused in the middle of closing the bathroom door. He took a second to appreciate Alec in his bed, his lean chest glistening with a thin sheen of sweat. "Yes, darling?"

Alec's eyes were closed. "Who's Asmodeus?" he asked sleepily.

Magnus hesitated for the smallest moment, his breath hitched. "Who?"

Alec didn't say anything for a long moment. His breath had deepened, and Magnus thought he might have drifted off to sleep. Alec turned over on the bed, burying his head in the pillow. He closed his eye's, and his words were muffled but Magnus still heard him mutter, "Never mind. It was just something I thought I heard."

He opened his mouth to respond, acid flooding his throat, but Alec had fallen asleep. For a moment, Magnus watched the rise and fall of his lover's back before he turned and closed the bathroom door with a click that sounded loud in the quiet room.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The counsel chamber in Idris looked like the floor of the New York stock exchange on a bad trading day. The soaring glass ceiling trapped the clamor of angry voices, bouncing them around until the room was filled with an indistinguishable roar. The Inquisitor was half standing at the podium, banging her gavel, but the sound was swallowed in the bedlam.

The chamber was a sea of shiny black, the seats filled with shadow hunters from all over the world dressed in full battle gear. Alec could see his parents seated on the dais next to the Inquisitor's bench, along with the heads of the London and Los Angeles Institutes. Fresh raw-looking runes stood out on everyone's skin, and no one was without a seraph blade strapped to their backs or daggers crisscross their chests.

Across the gallery floor, sat the small group of representatives from the down world. Raphael and Luke had just arrived, and Alec was surprised to see Meliorn seated behind them. Almost everyone around the group was standing and shouting. From the looks of the pointing and the red faces, negotiations were not going so well.

Alec sat between Jace and Izzy with one foot propped on the seat in front of him. Their trip to Idris had started normally. They had stepped through Magnus's portal into the glass city, and immediately been led to the counsel chambers. The Inquisitor had grilled each of them individually about the fire at the New York Institute and the battle at the Hotel Demort. It wasn't until they had sat down that the argument about their next course of action started to rage.

The members of the clave felt that it would be better to recall all of the shadow hunters from each Institute around the world to keep them safe from impeding attacks. From their fortified position in Idris, they planned to send small elite teams out to infiltrate Valentine and destroy him. From a battle perspective, Alec could understand the merits of the plan.

Raphael had stood first, calmly calling the clave sniveling cowards for leaving the down worlders unprotected while Valentine was still a threat. Luke had asked if the Nephilim were prepared to bring all of them into Idris so the down worlders would also be protected by the city's wards. At that, the head of the Paris Institute had stood up and demanded that the Inquisitor evict the blood sucker and the mutt from the proceedings. It had gone downhill from there. The room had erupted in to a cacophony of shouting and name calling.

Alec had attended numerous counsel meetings, and they always seemed to start out this way. Even when the fate of the world was _not_ in question. He knew that the Inquisitor would eventually get things under control and a decision would be reached calmly.

So he took the opportunity to rest, his body still aching. Alec rolled his neck and kneaded the muscles in his shoulder as best he could. His eye's felt gritty. His ten minute nap had not been nearly enough.

He couldn't help himself as he scanned the room for Magnus. Alec found him calmly seated amidst the chaos next to a blue skinned women that Alec didn't recognize. The warlock was dressed in a slim, crushed velvet suit in a deep purple. He hadn't bothered to glamour his slitted emerald eye's and they were even more striking against the sparkling purple smudges rimming his eyelids. A finger tip length black cape hung around his shoulders, pinned at the center of his chest with an elaborate amethyst broach. It would have been old fashion and out of place on anyone else, but Magnus looked delightfully mysterious, as if he had just stepped out of an elegant carriage from the last century.

Magnus was deep in conversation with the blue skinned women, their heads bent together despite the tempest swirling around them. Every once in a while the female warlock would reach out and touch Magnus's hand. Their body language spoke of years of familiarity.

Alec felt a jolt of unease when he thought about the depth of mystery surrounding the warlock. He realized that he knew next to nothing about Magnus's past or the many people he had known along the way. It occurred to Alec that it was incredible reckless of him to invite this man into his bed without knowing everything about him. It suddenly seemed urgent that he ask him about it.

"So what's going on with you two?" Jace asked. Alec turned, and Jace pointed with his chin at Magnus, one eyebrow raised.

Magnus was shaking his head at something the blue skin women was saying. She was gesturing angrily now, and Alec wished he could hear their conversation. "What are you talking about?" Alec said.

Jace shrugged. "Magnus seems weird. Whenever I talked to him today, he seemed cryptic, like he was hiding something."

Alec opened his mouth to argue but then he remembered the strange icy feeling when he fought Valentine. The pain had been crippling, and he still couldn't explain it. For some reason it occurred to him that Magnus had not acted surprised when it had happened. Alec suddenly remembered with piercing clarity the sound of Magnus's voice saying Asmodeus as he had fallen. The name tickled the back of his mind, like a fact learned and forgotten in a school lesson.

Jace was studying him now. "Be careful Alec," he said. "I have a feeling that Magnus isn't telling us everything. Every warlock is holding onto centuries of secrets." Jace paused as they both turned to look across the counsel room. " And Magnus isn't just any warlock."

Alec saw that Magnus had turned his attention back to the Inquisitor, who was finally getting the room under control. Their eyes met across the space, but Magnus's gaze slid off of his almost immediately. Something dark had flickered in Magnus's eyes that Alec thought looked an awful lot like guilt. His stomach turned over uneasily.

xxxx

Magnus knew how to keep his emotions from showing on his face. Keeping secrets was an essential survival skill if one was going to live for several lifetimes. He knew how to school his face into a blank canvas and hide behind witty remarks. But he was no fool. He would not be able to hide from Alec for long. The young shadow hunter would see right through him, so he let his gaze glance over Alec as the Clave was finally called to order.

Magnus tried to focus on the arguments being presented, but his thoughts kept replaying his conversation with Catarina. The blue skinned warlock had been one his closest friends for as long as he could remember. There had been a time when Ragnor and Catarina and him had been inseparable, getting into mischief all over the world. Magnus smiled at the memories. Well, _he_ had gotten into mischief.

Now with Ragnor gone, Catarina Loss was the only person in the world who knew about Magnus's father and did not judge him. To say that she had been alarmed by the recent developments was an understatement. Catarina had urged Magnus to tell Alec about his father's insistence that he return to the demon realm. He knew she was right, but the idea of telling Alec about Asmodeus made his insides hollow out.

Magnus had no doubt the shadow hunter had feelings for him, even if they were undefined. But Alec had been raised with contempt for all down worlders. Even a couple of decades ago, a relationship with someone with demon blood would have been met with disgust and out right hatred in the shadow world. Now, it was still almost entirely unheard of. How would Alec feel if the man he was romantically involved with was revealed to be demon _royalty?_

As if their relationship wasn't complicated enough. Maybe his family could eventually learn to accept their gay son, but a warlock was the son of a prince of hell? It seemed unlikely. He tried to ignore the greasy feeling of despair creeping into his veins.

Magnus knew that he would have to tell Alexander eventually but for now he wanted more time. It was selfish, he knew, but he just needed a few more nights together. Because maybe those few nights could sustain him for the long years to come. Maybe if he had those last stolen moments together then he could survive losing him. Maybe he could learn to bear the unbearable.

Magnus crossed his legs and allowed himself to study Alec out of the corner of his eye. The boy was slouched in his seat, listening to the Inquisitor argue with the head of the Paris Institute. His hair was standing up in soft spikes all over his head and the hollows under his eye's looked bruised. He looked exactly like someone who had fought a battle, almost died, and hadn't slept in 24 hours. Alec frowned at something that was being said, biting his lip slightly. Magnus felt heat gather in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't help think about the way Alec looked bent over him, those whiskey color eye's dark with desire when he had slide his mouth—

He looked away as the flush climbed up his cheeks. He felt ridiculous. Magnus barely remembered what it was like to be a teenager, but suddenly he couldn't help but act like one when it came to Alexander. Catarina snorted inelegantly next to him. He turned to glare at her.

She touched the side of his neck lightly where he imagined his skin had flushed red. "You are in big trouble my old friend," she whispered, her eye's soft.

He sighed. "Oh I know, Catarina my dear," he replied quietly. She pat his arm as he laughed under his breath.

The sound of his name finally brought his attention back to the proceedings of the counsel meeting. It did not feel like that long ago when down worlders had to fight to gain seats on the clave and these meetings had been filled with vitriol and down right hatred against his kind. A hundred years later, he still felt the thinly veiled contempt radiating off most of the shadow hunter representatives.

However, his services had saved many Nephilim lives over the years, earning him a sort of respect that was unheard of in these proceedings. Not to mention the hundreds of secret services individual shadow hunters had called on him to perform. If the Inquisitor knew how many demons he had summoned, sex potions he had made, and covert portals he had conjured over the years he was quite sure it would create a scandal that would rock the shadow hunter.

"Mr. Bane," repeated the Inquisitor, glaring down at him. Amused, he stood, composing his face into an expression of contrition. He inclined his head in acknowledgement. "According to the Lightwood's, you have been instrumental in the fight against Valentine. Perhaps you can give us a down worlders perspective on how to proceed."

Magnus opened his mouth, but a voice suddenly shouted out from the gallery, interrupting him. "What could that warlock possibly bring to this discussion?" the person fumed. Recognizing the voice, Magnus turned to the head of the Peruvian Institute with a sinking stomach.

"Here we go," muttered Catarina.

Magnus braced himself. He knew Matteo Cortez better then he would have liked. The man had no love for him. For good reason, Magnus mused, thinking with fondness of his time in Peru.

Cortez sneered at him from across the room, his face red and blotchy. "This demon bastard whores out his dark magic to the highest bidder. He can't be trusted." Magnus kept his featured smooth. It was not the first time he had been called hateful names at a counsel meeting. Across the gallery, Alec stood up. "Besides," Cortez continued, pointing at Magnus, "We shouldn't be depending on _their_ kind. It is demon half breeds like him that have caused this problem in the first place."

Magnus raised his eyebrow. "Have you forgotten that Valentine is a shadow hunter?" he countered. "Your own kind has betrayed you."

"Angel damn you, warlock." Cortez said, lunging in Magnus's direction.

The Inquisitor banged her gavel, pointing it at Matteo. "You are out of line Mr. Cortez. Sit down. If we are going to have open dialogue with these down worlders, then we must treat them as equals when they come to the counsel. I am aware—"

Her words were cut off when the lights in the great room dimmed suddenly to a deep scarlet. The room was plunged into shocked silence.

"Magnus!" Catarina gasped in alarm, shooting to her feet next to him. He tensed. The light started pulsing, throwing bloody shadows against the glass walls. Recovering from their surprise, a murmur of alarm swept through the crowd. The Inquisitor was a frozen silhouette in the strobing amber lights. Magnus knew that it would be mere moments before the crowd of shadow hunters to recognize the meaning of the red glow.

Magnus spun on Catarina. "Get to the Inquisitor. Warn her," he demanded.

In one smooth movement he vaulted over the railing in front of him and strode across the empty center floor toward the giant wood doors that lead out to Idris. The crowd had just started to move, unfrozen from their shock by one voice that rang out above them all. "The wards!" the voice cried. "The wards have failed!"

Just before he reached the exit, the crowd started emptying into the pathways. Wood creaked as the massive door swung open. Magnus caught a glimpse of stars above the heads of the shadow hunters in front of him. The amber light pulsed faster.

He shoved his way through the deluge of bodies and stood on the steps of the conclave, staring down at the wall of Idris as shadow hunters streamed around him. The city towers, which had glowed with a soft white light for decades, were pulsing blood moons against the inky sky.

He sensed Alec standing next to him, but he couldn't take his eye's off the dark skyline. A long line of people had just crested the hills overlooking the glass city. Alec cursed. The horizon was filled with thousands of dark shadow hunters, and forsaken spilled down in an endless stream towards the walled city. The flash of seraph blades against the sky were holes punched in black paper, indistinguishable from the stars.

Valentine had brought his war to the gates of Idris.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The air was filled with the howl of a siren Alec had not known existed until the ward lights had turned to blood. The wail seemed fill up every crevice of the city. It set Alec's teeth on edge as he barreled down the marble steps of the counsel building with the others close behind.

At the bottom of the stairs, a group of shadow hunters were pushing the massive gates of the city closed with agonizing slowness. The leaders of the institutes were trying to gather their teams together, and the night was filled with the shout of instructions. People darted everywhere. One group broke away from the rest, and Alec could see that they were children, being taken to a safe house. Over the heads of the crowd, he spotted his mother's dark head leading his brother Max away. An iron first squeezed his heart as he thought of all the innocents that had been kept safe for decades in Idris. They were all at risk now.

He reached the gates just as they groaned closed. All around him, the city's walls were crawling with nephilim as they clamored to their battle stations. Alec craned his neck back. The battlement started to fill with archers. The silhouette of their drawn bows and the tense line of their shoulders barely visible against the inky sky. Alec strode toward the nearest ladder, swinging his bow on his shoulder.

"Alec!" Jace yelled, grabbing his arm to slow him down. Through the golden bars of the gates Alec could see Valentine's men poured into the valley in a relentless stream. The ground seemed to vibrate with hundreds of feet marching toward them.

Alec spun to face his parabatai angrily, impatient at the delay. Magnus was right behind Jace, hands already sparking with blue fire. Izzy's whip slithered from her wrist and uncoiled next to her like a deadly golden snake. He found himself looking for Clary and Simon, and then remembered that they had been left behind at the Hotel Demort. Their group felt strangely incomplete without them, Alec thought with surprise.

"I know what you're thinking, Alec," Jace said. "Your skills would be invaluable on the wall." He paused and reached into his jacket. "But I have a better idea." Jace pulled a silver watch from his pocket and held it up. His teeth flashed in the pulsing amber light as he grinned in triumph. Alec frowned at his parabatai and glanced at Izzy who shrugged.

"We don't have time for this, Jace." Alec said, gesturing to the dark army that was drawing closer by the minute.

"You always underestimate me, brother," Jace responded with a shake of his blonde head. "This is Valentine's watch. I stole it from him on the ship. I knew it wouldn't work before since he was holed up over water." His hand gripped Alec's arm tighter, his eye's feverish. "Alec we can parabatai track Valentine with this. _We_ will be the elite team." Jace leaned back, still grinned at him with that wild look in his eye's he always got when he got a completely crazy idea. Jace regarded Magnus and Izzy, and then met Alec's eye's again. "We're going to find that bastard, and we are going to kill him."

Alec turned back to the impending battle as the approaching hoard let out a guttural battle cry. Shadow hunters were lined up, several deep in front of the gate. The archers on the wall drew their bows, the arrows glinting from the runes as they aim them. A bellowed instruction cut the tense air and the battalion let loose hundreds of arrows with a barely audible snick. They flew like aimless birds into the night sky, and hit the first wave of forsaken in a deadly rain.

Alec held his breath, and Magnus took one step forward. The enemy line stumbled briefly under the assault. Alec felt his heart lift for a moment. It was a solid hit, and he could see shafts of arrows sticking out of heads and backs and arms. But the forsaken staggered forward, oblivious to the mortal injuries they should have sustained. Alec let his breath out, watching in dismay as the line continued relentlessly toward the gates. They had only moments before the enemy would be at their doorstep.

Magnus stepped around him, blocking the view. "I'm afraid I have to agree with Jace," Magnus said urgently. "The only way Valentine got around the wards of the city is by using powerful dark magic. He must have a warlock under his control." He put his hand on Alec's chest, his voice low and pleading,"Let the others take care of the city, Alexander. The only way to defeat this army is by finding Valentine."

Magnus glanced back at the advancing enemy line and then at Jace and Izzy. "I'm afraid if we cannot find and defeat him then…" He searched Alec's eye's. "I'm afraid Idris will fall."

Alec considered for just a moment. After what he had just seen, there was really no choice. The city was outnumbered. The nephilim might be matched in battle with Valentine's dark shadow hunters, but the number of forsaken made the battle impossible. They would be slaughtered. "Okay," he said, turning to Jace. "Let's do this."

Jace stepped up to him with the watch in his fist. Alec covered Jace's hands with his own. There had been a time, not long ago, when his hands would have been clammy, and his focus would have waved with Jace so close. Now he felt nothing but brotherly affection for his parabatai.

Alec glanced at Magnus over Jace's shoulder. The warlock winked, and Alec couldn't help but flash him a quick smile before he turned back to his brother. Jace nodded at him, and Alec took a deep breath as he concentrated. Silver flames rose up and swirled around their hands. Heat built around the watch. A sharp familiar pain shot through his temple, and Alec knew Jace's frown matched his own.

Suddenly an image appeared, tearing a jagged hole in his mind. He saw Valentine, surrounded by a league of dark shadow hunters. He was standing in front of the gaping mouth of a cave, giving orders. The image faded almost as quickly as it had appeared, and he gasped as Jace fell away from him.

Magnus was at his side in a moment, holding him up. "What did you see?" Magnus asked above the roar of battle all around them. While they had been distracted, the forsaken had made it to the wall.

Alec met his brother's eye. They had found Valentine. All this time he had been holed up right where they would never imaging to search. Valentine had been hiding in Idris.

xxx

It had taken them an hour to skirt around the edges of the battle, but they had finally crested the ridge where Valentine was hiding. A small outcrop of rocks hid them from view. Magnus gathered his magic, coiling it back inside of him until the blue fire fading like a morning fog. He leaned heavily against the rock wall, trying to catch his breath with some sort of dignity.

Jace pointed vaguely with the tip of his bloody seraph blade to show them the rocky path that led to the cave before collapsing against a boulder. Blood was seeping from a deep cut in his arm, and dripped off the tips of his fingers. Alec was there immediately. His dark head bent over Jace's shoulder as he applied the healing rune.

Magnus studied Alec from across the clearing until he was certain that the boy was uninjured. He seemed perfectly fine except for the thin line of dirt that creased his neck, and a slight limp that he was trying to hide. Magnus leaned his head against the rock and closed his eyes, willing the frantic thump of his heart to slow. Izzy staggered over to where Magnus was standing and sunk to the ground with a groan, her whip swirling bloody patterns in the hard packed dirt.

After a long minute, Magnus looked down at himself. He had lost his cape somewhere when the amethyst broach had broken free during a scuffle with a dark shadow hunter. Demon damn him, the queen of Spain had gifted that jewel to him over a century before, he thought in annoyance. He examined his suit in dismay. The crushed velvet jacket was soaked with the black blood of a forsaken. He shrugged it off and untucked one corner of his shirt to examine the gash on his hip. Izzy regarded at it with concern. "That looks nasty."

"Bastard forsaken bit me."

Izzy crinkled her nose. Magnus let magic warm in his palm and muttered a spell before letting it sink into his skin. He hissed as black blood seeped out of the healing wound. Suddenly Alec was crouching next to him, touching the edges of the bite mark in concern. "Are you all right?" he asked, looking up. The smoke in the air was thick, and Alec's eye's were rimmed with red. The color set off the green in his pupils, swallowing the golden sparks and turning them a deep emerald. "Will it heal?"

Izzy rolled her eye's, but Magnus saw her smile to herself as she walked across the clearing to Jace. He tugged down the corner of his shirt and tucked it back in as Alec stood. "It needs a poulice, but it will keep until later. Forsaken saliva is a dreadful thing," Magnus said with an exaggerated shudder as he straightened up.

The crash of swords rang out all around them from just below the ridge and the air swirled with the smell of gunpowder and the rotten smell of the forsaken. Across the clearing, Izzy helped Jace to his feet. He brushed the red dirt off his gear and lifted an eyebrow in their direction. The cave was just on the other side of the mountain. They needed to keep moving.

Alec hadn't turned, but stood staring down at him as if he had something to say. Magnus made a move to go, but suddenly Alec was crowding him against the rock cliff, gripping his jaw and tilting his head up.

Despite their audience, Magnus didn't resist and met Alec's mouth with his own. His stomach swooped unevenly, and he closed his eyes. Alec tasted faintly of dust and earl gray, his lips firm as his tongue swept into Magnus's mouth. The kiss had an edge of desperation to it as it deepened His hand was trapped against Alec's chest, and he twisted his fingers in the shadow hunters shirt. Alec had stepped between his legs, and his calloused thumb rubbed along the thin stretch of skin at the small of his back. Magnus felt his body respond immediately, and he ripped his mouth away, breathing heavily. Alec leaned their foreheads together, his eye's still closed. Magnus pulled back. He cupped Alec's cheek, running his thumb over the ridge of his cheekbone. "Magnus, I—"

"Not now, my dear," Magnus interrupted. Alec's hand tightening on his hip. Magnus sighed. "Not here, Alexander. Not now." Magnus leaned up and brushed a kiss on the corner of Alec's mouth. Heat pooling in the hollow at the base of his neck when the boy shivered in response.

"By the Angel, will you two get a room?" Jace said. His words were teasing, but his voice was serious. They turned. "We need to go, Alec."

Alec stepped away, and Magnus could breath again. "What's the plan?" Alec asked. Jace wiped the flat of his blade on the side of his pants and looked toward the path that twisted around the rocks and disappeared from sight.

"Our only advantage is surprise and our numbers. In the past, we've only managed to fight Valentine one on one." Jace turned to look at them. "Between the three of us, and Magnus of course, I think we can take him, but we have to get through his soldiers first. We don't stand a chance if we exhaust ourselves fighting his minions."

"If we kill Valentine, then I believe the rest of the dark shadow hunters will fall," Magnus spoke up, trying to smooth his hair into place. "Valentine's blood is what made them what they are. If he is killed then they should die too."

"Angel, I hope you're right." Izzy replied

They started around the rocky embankment, Jace leading the way. Magnus let Alec go in front of him. It was dark and still around them, the only illumination a dull witch light that Jace held low at his side and the silent stars fading above their heads. The path was steep, and they slid on the loose rocks as they stumbled down the side of the mountain. The battle faded behind them until the only sound was the crunch of gravel under their feet.

Magnus kept his head down as they continued to move. He had to pick his way carefully as the path became littered with large boulders. For a second he thought longingly of his quiet loft in Paris and his beach house in the Maldives. How he got himself in these predicaments was beyond him. He smiled anyway as Alec reached back and helped him jump over a particularly large gap between rocks.

The trees started to thicken around them, and Jace's mismatched eye's flaring back at them in the dark. "We're almost there," he said, his low voice sounded loud in the eery quiet of the black forest.

Alec's hand tightened on his bow. He reached into his quiver, pulled an arrow free, and nocked it. He glanced over his shoulder at them. "Jace and I used to play near here when we were kids. This path will take us around the back of the cave." Magnus and Izzy nodded.

They moved forward even more quietly, choosing each step careful. There footsteps made soft scuffs against the forest floor as the path changed from rocks to a dirt track littered with damp leaves. Ahead of them, Jace let the witch light wink out. The blackness was so absolute that Magnus couldn't even see the bright red fletching on Alec's arrows. The shadow hunters had night vision runes to help them see in the dark. Izzy put a hand on his back. Magnus gathered a small tendril of magic and unglamoured his cat eye's. The images in front of him clarified into dark gray and light gray shadows in the vague shape of Jace and Alec. "I'm okay," he breathed and Izzy's hand disappeared.

They had only been walking a few seconds when Magnus felt the air change all around him. It thickened—pressing his lungs inside his chest. The gray shadows suddenly had a red tint, like a bloody fog had rolled in. Alec and Jace continued to move forward at a steady pace as if they felt nothing. Out of the dark, his father spoke in his inside his head, and Magnus forced himself not to stumble. His heart thudded against the empty cage of his ribs.

"My son," his father purred inside his mind. Magnus shuddered at the violation. "I have been patient with you. And I am not a patient man." Asmodeus's voice brushed against consciousness like silky sandpaper. It felt like an invasion of the most intimate sort. Magnus tried not to gag.

Suddenly, an image shimmered into his line of vision and it was as if he was no longer following Jace through the dark forest. He was transported. The Magnus in his mind was standing behind Alec in the Hotel Demort. He recognized the curl of black hair against the familiar lines of his lovers neck. But something felt off. The angle of the image was wrong— unfamiliar. Magnus realized he was seeing the memory through Asmodeus's eye's. In his mind, his hand shot forward in the memory, and he was holding something hot and beating. Holding Alec's heart in his hand. Magnus struggled to free himself from his father's mental hold. His pulse thundered in his ears.

Just as quickly as Asmodeus had captured him, he released him. This time Magnus did stagger. The shadow hunters paused, but he instinctually put his hand on Alec's shoulder and they continued moving, unaware of the drama unfurling in Magnus's mind.

"Magnus," his father beseeched. His voice was hard and cruel. "It is time. Come rule by my side. Do not make me hurt you more." His father paused and Magnus did not respond, hoping that the silence would be his answer. Asmodeus sighed, a sound in his head that made his skin crawl. "Very well. If you will not come with me willingly then I will have to resort to nastier measures. Do not hate me for what happens next."

His father left without a sound. The red mist cleared, and Magnus's mind emptied. He closed his eye's for a moment as they continued walking. His insides felt twisted. He couldn't ignore the wetness in the corner of his eyelids. It had been decades since he had given in to tears. He thought that centuries of loneliness and loss had hardened that part of him permanently, but now there was a terrible hollowness in the center of his chest. Sorrow, so thick it threatened to choke him, rose up in his throat.

After spending lifetimes wandering the earth, searching for something he didn't know he was missing, he had finally found it in the most unlikely place. The chance for happiness was so close he felt like his finger tips could brush it. Instead he was hurtling wildly toward catastrophe.

He swallowed a bitter laugh. That he would live such a long life and then be denied the thing that gave life meaning and substance seemed like a special kind of tragedy. The finish line was in sight, but he had fallen short at the last minute. His bones ached. He was centuries old, and he was finally out of time.


	14. Chapter 14

**I just wanted to say thanks again for all the reviews! It means a lot to know that someone is out there reading my little story. :)**

 **Sorry about all the cliffhangers, but I'm kinda a sucker for them. If it wasn't for angst and frustrating chapter endings then I would never be forced to stay up till 2 am reading under my covers!**

 **This story is wrapping up soon. I have most of the ending written already. I'm guessing it will be another 3-4 chapters after this one. I'm totally in love with the next few scenes. They were super fun to write. Thanks again for reading!**

Chapter 14

Something was wrong with Magnus.

When they had come to a clearing in the trees, Alec had stopped them for a minute to regroup. The cave where Valentine was hiding was just around the next embankment. The forest was hushed, even the crickets seemed to have been scared away. The chill of deep night had fallen, and Alec felt his muscles tighten as they cooled. No one spoke while they adjusted weapons, checked injuries, and reapplied runes.

It wasn't until they started discussing their strategy that Alec noticed something was off with Magnus. They huddled together in a tight circle, their breath mingling in white puffs as they conspired.

Jace thought they should split up, one group being the distraction while the other two confronted Valentine. Izzy argued that it would take all four of them to kill Valentine. She suggested attacking him from above to take him by surprise. Alec listened, watching Magnus.

The warlock had not met his eye since they entered the clearing. In fact, his gaze kept darting nervously to the ring of dark trees around them, as if he was expecting some sort to of attack. He was rubbing his arms vigorously as if he couldn't get warm. And he was not listening to a word they were saying.

"Magnus," Alec whispered sharply.

Magnus looked up at him immediately and then away. Alec felt a jolt through his whole body like electricity. There was something in the warlock's eyes that he had never seen before. The three of them had been in many dangerous situations in their short time together, and Alec had never seen Magnus express more then mild concern even during the heat of battle. But just now his eye's had been completely stripped down, filled with unbridled terror. Alec felt his stomach clench and roll.

"Magnus," he said again, this time with a question in his voice. The others were looking in the warlock's direction now, alerted that something was wrong. Alec watched Magnus swallow before he looked up again. This time his eyes were shuttered, showing nothing. Alec thought for a second that he had imagined the expression.

"I think Isabelle is right," Magnus said. Alec wondered if Izzy and Jace noticed the way Magnus's voice trembled ever so slightly. "Splitting up is a mistake. Taking him by surprise will give us the slight edge we need. I suggest we portal inside the cave. Alec and Jace have been there before?" Jace nodded. "I can hold off the rest of the horde while you take care of Valentine," Magnus finished.

Izzy and Jace agreed. It was a good plan, and they didn't have time to come up with something more elaborate. Somewhere in the city of Idris, shadow hunters were dying. "Are you sure you're up for it?" Alec couldn't help but ask.

Magnus looked at him mildly. "Of course, my dear," he said. His palms immediately flared up, brilliant in the near total darkness. Alec squinted as the warlock turned and waved his hands. A swirling purple and gold portal appeared in the center of the clearing. Alec readied his bow, and heard Izzy's whip slither to the ground next to him. He didn't have to look at Jace to know that his parabatai was tense and ready. Jace's sword glowed dimly before he named it. It flared to life.

"I'll go first," Magnus said, his magic shimmered around him in a cobalt aurora. "If Valentine is surrounded by his soldiers as you say, then I can deal with them before you come through." Alec nodded even though he didn't like it. Magnus was completely capable of taking care of himself, but it didn't stop his heart from stuttering a bit as the warlock disappeared into the portal without looking back.

xxxx

When Magnus stepped out of the portal, he was surprised to find himself deep inside the cave. It was quiet except for the hushed whisper of water dripping down the rock walls and the almost inaudible shuffle of bat wings. Magnus sent a brief word of thanks for Jace's childhood memory of the area. Valentine would not expect an attack from inside the cavern. He was vulnerable and that meant they had the advantage.

Magnus allowed himself to sigh and leaned his head back against the wall as he waited for the others. His skin was still crawling after the encounter with his father. He knew he needed to tell Alec what was going on. And he would. As soon as they got through this.

Suddenly Valentine seemed like a small problem next to Asmodeus. He rubbed his forehead wearily. He needed to get this little adventure over with so he could come up with some way to deal with his father. Being haunted by one of the princes of hell was really cutting into his social life.

He straightened back up as Jace stepped out of the portal, followed quickly by Alec and Izzy. Magnus laid a finger across his lips, nodding toward the flickering glow that was coming from the cave's entrance. Valentine was close.

From their place behind the rock outcrop, they could see the red and orange dance of shadows against the wall from the bonfire. Jace peered around the boulders for a long moment, before crouching back down next to them.

"There are about a half dozen soldiers in here with Valentine," Jace whispered. "I saw at least three dozen outside. If we isolate the entrance of the cave from the rest of the soldiers, I think we might have a chance." He looked at Magnus, one eyebrow raised.

"Done," Magnus said.

"The three of us will take care of Valentine," Jace continued, glancing at Alec. "You need to watch your back," he said to Magnus. "We are going to have our hands full."

"I can take care of myself shadow hunter."

Magnus took a deep breath and stood up. He was exposed from this position, but none of the soldiers noticed him immediately. Valentine stood near the fire, talking to one of the dark shadow hunters. Magnus needed to get closer. Concentrating, he reached for the thread of magic inside of him, letting it blaze up slowly.

"Go." Jace whispered urgently.

At the signal, Magnus made a sudden break toward the cave's entrance, pushing the blue flame off his palms. It crested across the floor of the cave like a magical tide . Valentine's soldiers roused, letting out a shout of alarm right before it hit them. The magic seared through them, knocking several off their feet before slamming down in a shimmering blue curtain of fire at the mouth of the cave. Magnus heard the curses from the army trapped outside. A dark shadow hunter rushed toward him, his sword blazing. Magnus prepared to split his magic, a task that required skill most warlocks didn't possess, but Izzy's whip cracked and the man fell at his feet without a sound.

He turned to thank her, but she was already gone. For a moment, battle raged around him. The sound of steel against steel echoed hollowly in the cave. Magnus forced himself not to look around, focusing his attention on holding the barrier until he was sure it was sound. Finally confident in it's strength, he turned around.

In those tense minutes, the dark shadow hunters had all fallen. Alec stood in front of Valentine, his chest heaving, but the hand on his bow was steady as he aimed it at the man's heart. Izzy pulled her sword out of the still twitching body of a soldier lying on the ground. Her whip hissed across the floor as she reeled it back in. She joined Alec, her face grim.

Jace stood behind Valentine, his dagger at the man's throat. For once, Valentine was not smiling. A thin line of blood had trickled down his neck and a red stain blossomed on his white collar. Jace's eyes were wild, and he was grinning.

Magnus saw Jace say something, but for some reason it was muffled. Confused, he frowned and stepped forward. Or he tried to step forward, but Magnus discovered that his muscles were frozen in place. A bright burst of fear sparked beneath his sternum.

He looked at Alec, who glanced back at him. Magnus jerked in surprise. He knew the exact color of Alec's whiskey colored eyes. But now they were dull grey. In fact, the whole cave seemed to have been drained of color. He could see Valentine talking, his face pleading. He could see Jace respond, but the sound was dampened as if he was trying to eavesdrop through a thick wall.

"Magnus," his father singsonged inside his head. Magnus stomach did a slow sickening flip. He tried to speak, to scream, to move, but he was rooted in place. His father had complete control—he was a prisoner in his own body. A hot knife of terror wedged itself beneath his ribs.

"I noticed that you didn't tell Alec about me, son," Asmodeus said, his voice chummy, as if they were having a pleasant conversation over afternoon tea. "He's the reason you won't join me, isn't he? You fancy that young shadow hunter. I mean, that has to be it right?" The demon prince clicked his tongue. "I'm sorry things had to work out this way. Seriously, I have dreadful timing."

As he spoke, Magnus watched helplessly through his own eyes as Jace pulled his knife through Valentines neck in slow motion. The blood that spilled from the man's throat should have been bright red, but it was a dull gray crescent around his neck. Jace pushed him away, and he started to fall slowly. It was like watching an old black and white film on mute. Alec's lips were moving, but Magnus couldn't hear it.

"I mean, I gave you four centuries of freedom," his father continued. With horror, Magnus felt his father reach inside of him and grab the thick threads of his magic, pulling it to the surface. His hands started to glow. "I feel like I have been more then patient with you. But now it is time to come home, my son." Asmodeus said in a cold voice.

Magnus felt the full breadth of his magic build and rise in him until his whole body was ablaze. He watched Alec turn toward him and despite the question on his face, his expression was completely trusting. Magnus started to shake violently. _I'll do it!_ He screamed inside his head. _I'll do it!_

His father laughed and this time the sound echoed through the cavern, bouncing off the walls. The others looked around them, alarm growing on their faces. Magnus felt the magic coiling like a viper in the center of his chest. "Oh, I know you will, my son. I know you will." Asmodeus said.

Magnus felt his grip loosening as the magic strained to break free. He gritted his teeth and pulled up with every ounce of strength he had. The magic tore free, wild and untamed. He felt his hand's twitch upward just as he hollowed out. The blue inferno crashed across the cavern, a tsunami of destruction. He heard Izzy cry out.

His father let go. Or rather stepped out of him. Asmodeus's dark shadow rose up next to him, and Magnus felt his knees give way. The demon prince gripped his arm, holding him up.

Izzy was on the ground. Her face was pale except for the left side which was burnt from where his magic had scorched her. The ruby necklace at her chest pulsed frantically. She was completely still.

Alec fell to his knees beside her, calling her name wildly. He jerked the collar of her shirt down, the glow of the rune he drew next to her heart startlingly bright to Magnus's eyes. He staggered closer, until he met Jace's hand against his chest. Jace shoved him back. Magnus gripped the shadow hunter's wrist, trying to push him to the side until he noticed that Jace still held his dagger. He was pointing it at Magnus, the blade still dripping with Valentine's blood.

Magnus stared at Jace blindly. The boy's eyes were hard and unyielding. "You want to tell me what in the Angel is going on Magnus. Who the hell is this?" Jace demanded, his voice seething.

Magnus looked past him. Alec was applying another rune to his sister's chest. Each rune disappeared into her skin as quickly as Alec could draw. He was whispering to her urgently. Magnus's whole body was drawn tight. He couldn't breath, taking giant gulping breaths.

"Magnus!" Jace shouted. The shadow hunter's hand was fisted in Magnus's shirt, his nails digging into his skin.

Izzy's hand twitched. Magnus heart thudding painfully back to life. He straightened, but Jace had turned his attention to Asmodeus. The boy moved his hand off Magnus's chest and drew his sword, as if he had just recognized the real threat in the room.

Asmodeus glided forward, black smoke still drifting off his shoulders like morning fog. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends, Magnus?" his father purred. Alec finally looked up. Asmodeus bowed, looking elegant and out of place in his charcoal suit. His red eyes glowed in the dim cave. "I'm Magnus's father, Asmodeus." He brushed his long fingers over his suit lapel and raised an eyebrow.

"One of the nine princes of hell," Jace muttered to himself.

Asmodeus smiled smugly, inclining his head. "Yes, little shadow hunter. I'm afraid your warlock friend here is royalty in the demon realm. It is time for him to come home." His father adjusted his cufflinks absently. He waved a hand in Magnus's direction. "Perhaps you can talk some sense into him. I've been trying to get him to claim his rightful place by my side for days now. He's very stubborn."

Magnus did not turn around, instead he forced himself to watch the dawning realization on Alec's face as he stood up. At his feet, Izzy's breath was labored but steady. The skin on the left side of her face was red and raw. She was already starting to blister. Magnus knew she would be in a great deal of pain when she woke up. Alec was staring at him like he had never seen him before.

" _This_ is your father?" Alec asked, disbelief threading through his voice. Magnus tried to say something, but the words stuck in his throat so he just nodded.

Alec turned to face Asmodeus. "It was you," he stated tonelessly, as he reaching for his bow.

Asmodeus raised his eyebrows, his amber eyes amused. He chuckled. "I suppose you are referring to the incident in the Hotel Demort," Asmodeus said. Magnus felt the weight of his father's hand fall on his shoulder. He didn't have the energy to shrug it off.

Alec drew an arrow from his quiver and set it. Asmodeus continued, oblivious, "Yes, that was me, of course. I was trying to convince my dear son here to own up to his duties. He has been hard to persuade." Asmodeus gestured toward Isabelle. "So sorry about your sister. I warned Magnus that something horrible would happen if he didn't comply." He patted Magnus's shoulder as if they were good friends. Magnus shuddered.

Alec's gaze shifted to his. "So you have been manipulating Magnus for days?" Alec asked. He spoke to Asmodeus, but his words were for Magnus.

"Yes," Magnus confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. He felt hollow and empty, like he had forgotten something that was now lost forever. Alec's gaze slid away.

Asmodeus took another step forward, clapping his hands together. "Well, if this reunion is just about—"

His words choked off. Magnus spun. The red fletching of the arrow sticking out of his father's throat was almost as bright as his eyes as they flared in the caves dim light. The shaft bobbed gruesomely as Asmodeus tried to swallow. Magnus could see the arrowhead jutting out of the back of his neck as his father reached for it, his hands slipping on the blood that pulsed around the wound. He gaped at Magnus, his mouth struggling to form words.

The arrowhead flared bright white once, and Asmodeus shattered. He disintegrated silently into a thousand specks of dust that swirled and flashed until they vanished. The arrow dropped to the floor of the cave with a clatter, still covered in blood.

For a second no one moved, and then Izzy let out a violent cough. Alec was down at her side in an instant. Jace glanced at Magnus before joining his brother on the ground.

Magnus looked around numbly. In the chaos, the barrier around the cave had failed. As he had predicted, the dark shadow hunter's lives had been linked to Valentine's blood. They were scattered around the outside of the cave, dead where they had fallen. In the distance he could see the faint pink glow of the sun on the horizon. It was almost morning.

He studied the bloody arrow on the rocky floor, nudging it with his toe. His father was gone. For now. One did not simply kill a demon prince with a rune'd arrow. He would find his way back to the world eventually. But that was a problem for another day.

Magnus watched as Alec lifted his sister, her hair cascading down his arm like a dark waterfall. Magnus lurched toward them. "Let me help her. I can take her pain away," he said, his voice ragged.

Alec flinched away from him. "I think you've done enough, Magnus," Alec said. He brushed past him with Izzy in his arms.

"Alexander…" Magnus started, his voice pleading as the boy walked away.

Alec paused at the mouth of the cave, his back still turned away.

"Alec," he responded. Magnus winced, his heart a hard fist in his throat. "My name is Alec."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Alec's knuckles were bleeding though the torn tape around his hands. He punched the leather bag again in a combination that made the muscles in his arms burn. He blinked away the sweat that stung his eyes, impatiently flicking away the damp strands.

It had been 11 days. He squinted through the dark at the clock on the training room wall. Okay, 12 days and 3 hours.

He spun into a kick, wincing at the growing bruise on the top of his foot. Alec paused, his chest heaving and wiped his face with the towel around his shoulders. He padded over to the wall, grabbed the bottle he had tossed next to his crumpled up shirt hours ago, and took a long pull of water. He looked around at the temporary training room, holding the cold bottle against the back of his neck, as his breath slowly returned to normal.

It turned out that the clave owned an old brownstone in Brooklyn that could be used as a temporary base until the Institute was rebuilt. As soon as things in Idris had started to settle down, they had all moved back in here. There was still a city that needed protecting from demons after all. It wasn't as spacious as the Institute that burned down, and it had the vague musty smell of being empty for years, but it was ready right away.

The top floor of the large brownstone had been removed years ago, creating a tall empty space for the training room. Ten foot windows started half way up the long wall and soared above his head, the ceiling hidden in shadows. He crossed to the thick rope that hung in the middle of the room and gave it a tug. The course hemp was knotted at 5 foot intervals as far as he could see. Somewhere above him it was secured to an exposed steel beam.

Alec dropped the towel from his bare shoulders. He twisted one foot around the rope to steady himself, flexed his hands to get a good grip, and started to climb. The muscles in his arms shrieked in protest.

12 days. That was how long it had been since he had seen or heard from Magnus.

Alec had spent the first few days sitting by Izzy's bedside ignoring the political storm that swirled around him. The hours after he had carried his sister into the infirmary and laid her down on the narrow cot were a blur. Isabelle had stopped breathing once. The moments until they had revived her had been the most terrifying of his life. He broke into a cold sweat at the memory.

The magic had burned holes in her clothes, the skin showing though red and raw. The side of her face had been tight and shiny. Her dark hair singed. Alec had been frantic, glancing at the door, half expecting Magnus to show up despite what had happened.

But Magnus hadn't come. He had sent Catarina Loss instead. The blue skinned warlock had turned out to be a nurse with exceedingly gentle hands. Catarina had spent hours healing Isabelle until she had collapsed in exhaustion. After what seemed like an eternity, Izzy had finally stabilized. Alec had fallen asleep holding her hand, the burnt metal smell of magic drifting around him.

 _Someone was shaking him. He woke up, peeling his face off the sheet of Izzy's bed. He rubbed the sharp pain in his neck from sleeping awkwardly. Catarina looked down at him; her hand gentle on his shoulder. The warlock was still dressed in her nurse scrubs, the white brilliant against her blue skin. Her eyes were rimmed in red._

 _He glanced at his sister in alarm, but she was sleeping soundly. The sheet rose and fell as she breathed slowly. Her burned skin was still raw, but the swelling had gone down. The rune he had applied before dozing off still was there, a silver shadow on her shoulder. Catarina pulled him to his feet._

 _"_ _She's doing just fine, Alec," Catarina said softly. She led him to the doorway. "It's time for you to get some sleep. You haven't even changed your clothes."_

 _Alec shook his head. There was no way he was leaving Izzy. Catarina smiled gently as if she knew what he was about to say. She put her hand on the small of his back, easing him toward the door. "I will stay with her for a couple of hours. Jace can sit with her when I have to go. You need to get some sleep, or you'll be no good to her. She'll want to see you when she wakes up." Alec was about to protest when he became acutely aware of the ache in his whole body. Even his heart hurt. A dull throbbing that had Magnus's name on it._

 _He nodded and started down the dark hallway, already trying to decide if he would have time for a hot shower before his muscles gave way._

 _"_ _I understand what he see's in you," Catarina said from the infirmary doorway._

 _Alec paused and looked back at her. She smiled, her eye's kind, but worried. "Magnus is my oldest friend. I know him better then anyone."_

 _She stepped into he hallway, moving closer. She seemed to be searching for the right words. "He lied to you. It's understandable that you would be angry." Catarina shrugged helplessly. "Magnus has been hurt a thousand times. You can not imagine what that does to a person. After centuries of betrayal and loneliness, your heart just…" She touched his arm. "It just closes. It's inevitable really."_

 _She laughed under her breath and shook her head as if she was remember something that he could not see. Her eye's danced a little as they met his. "But Magnus is different. Somehow, impossibly, he has never let the weight of the world diminish him. He has endured unbelievable fear and hatred and loss. And yet he remains… just Magnus."_

 _She gripped his arm tighter. "He is a good man, Alec. He has waited centuries for happiness. He deserves it now—with you." He was silent, absorbing her words. She let go of his arm, leaning forward and kissed his cheek. He blinked in surprise. She stepped back to the door, glanced inside to check on Izzy, and then turned back to him._

 _"_ _Real love is far more rare then mortals would like to believe, Alec. Magnus is special. Don't fuck this up."_

The rope bit into the palms of Alec's hands as he climbed. His biceps burned. He reached the steel crossbar and hauled himself up, breathing hard. From thirty feet up, he could see through the windows at the top of the room. The lights from the buildings around the makeshift institute glowed like stars, casting a watery pale light through the training room. He navigated the narrow steel beam carefully and sat, his legs dangling over the edge.

It was amazing how quickly things had gotten back to normal. After grueling questioning in Idris the clave had bestowed a full pardon on them all. Valentine was defeated. Idris was safe. The down worlders were so grateful even the Seelie queen had been cooperative. Over night the five of them, Simon and Magnus included, had gone from outcast rebels to heroes. Once the investigation was concluded, they had been sent back to the city to reestablish control in their temporary base in Brooklyn.

Alec knew that Magnus had been in Idris. He must have been questioned extensively by the clave during the investigation but somehow their paths had never crossed. Alec knew that Magnus had even been to the Institute to confer with Maryse. But Alec hadn't seen him. Magnus had come and gone like a ghost.

Alec ran his hand roughly through his damp hair. He was in new territory. He had never been in a relationship before. He had no idea how to deal with a hurt 400 year old warlock.

The past couple of days had been the worst. He couldn't seem to sit down. His skin seemed to itch for action. He had been training relentlessly to try to get rid of the pent up energy but nothing seemed to help.

He couldn't sleep. Beds made him think of Magnus. Hell, everything made him think of Magnus. He had dialed Magnus's number a hundred times, his thumb hovered over the last number until he shoved it back in his pocket in frustration.

He didn't know what to say. He was still furious. Alec felt like he had a fault line running through him. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing Magnus, but he was going completely insane _not_ seeing him.

He heard the training room door squeak open. Using his night vision rune, he watched in surprise as Izzy slipped through the door. It was late. She was wearing a tight white dress that left little to the imagination, and long diamond earrings that glinted up at him through the shadows. She carried her silver stiletto's with one crooked finger.

Izzy glanced around and then peered up at him through the darkness. He raised his hand in a silent wave. She tossed her heels against the wall and padded over to the rope. She reached back and tied her long hair into a knot in that mysterious way that girls do. He watched as his sister swung herself up easily, her toned muscles flexing as she glided, almost effortlessly up the rope. She was still weak from her injuries, but she refused to show it. Alec knew what this was about, but he waited patiently, unwrapping the tape binding his knuckles.

Izzy wanted to talk about Magnus. She had been biting her tongue for days now and keeping silent wasn't his sister's style. He sighed. Learning that Magnus was the son of a demon prince had been a shock. His mother had been particularly happy, her I-told-you-so speech had set his teeth on edge.

The truth was, he didn't give a rats ass who Magnus's father was. But Magnus had lied to him. And it had put his sister in mortal danger. So many things could have gone wrong. Alec wasn't sure he could live with that.

Izzy reached the top of the rope and swung herself up. She strode across the beam as if she was walking down a wide sidewalk, and dropped down gracefully next to him. She was barely winded. She swung her feet in the open air casually, as if she hadn't been on the brink of death just days ago.

She looked exactly like the no nonsense, tough as nails girl she had always been. But Alec could still see the faint line of healing pink skin that went from the peak of her forehead to her jaw and the slight singe on her eyelashes. He wondered if she would carry the ghost of a scar forever.

"A little late for a training session, brother," Izzy started.

Alec shrugged, studying her out of the corner of his eye. Her lipstick was smudged. "A little late for whatever you were doing tonight," he countered. She scrunched her nose at him and punched him lightly in the arm. He chuckled and felt the knot in his chest loosen a little.

"Things have been…tense. Dancing is a great energy release," she said.

Alec snorted and raised an eyebrow in her direction. "They're calling it dancing these days?" She stuck out her tongue at him.

"I've had a rough couple of weeks. I deserve to blow off a little steam." She glanced at his bloody knuckles and frowned. "I just prefer to do it _with_ someone." She jiggled her eyebrows at him. "Speaking of Magnus…"

"Don't," Alec said, cutting her off. Her swinging legs stilled, and she leaned back a little. Absently, he rubbed the spot in the center of his sternum that was constantly throbbing these days. Last night he had looked in the mirror, expecting to see a bruise but his skin had been smooth and unblemished.

"Alec…" she started. He sighed.

She looked at him sharply, rolling her eyes—angry and indignant in the way only Izzy could be. She poked him hard in the shoulder. "You're being an ass, you know. What happened in the cave was an accident! He didn't tell you about his father because he was afraid of how you would react. Which is totally justified considering how our parents and the clave have treated him over the years," she said, crossing her arms. "You should give him a chance to explain."

He glared at her. "He lied. And you almost died because of it!"

"I know, Alec. But I'm fine. You're being stubborn as usual. You need to forgive him," she said.

How can you, of all people, say that?" he fumed.

"Because I know Magnus. He would never hurt any of us on purpose. He made a mistake. Why is it that I can forgive him and you can't?" she ranted, her voice raised.

"Because I am in love with him and you aren't!" Alec yelled back, throwing his hands in the air.

Izzy pulled back, her eye's wide. For once, she seemed not to know what to say. Alec ran his hand through his disheveled hair and stared blindly into the dark.

When he spoke again, his voice was soft. "He didn't trust me to help him. And it almost got you killed. Izzy, Magnus is complicated. He has a lot of secrets—a lot of enemies. Believe me, I want to get past this. I just don't know how." He leaned his elbows on his knee's, staring through his legs at the wood floor below them. Izzy put a hand on his back.

They were quiet for a long moment. "Alec, there's something else," she said softly. He glanced at her. She pulled a folded piece of paper out of the top of her dress and handed it to him. He took it, looking at her curiously. "A vampire was handing this out at Pandemonium."

He opened it. It was an invitation. The cobalt blue paper was thick, expensive, with gold-foiled lettering in Magnus's elegant script. It read:

 _You are invited to attend:_

 _A Going Away Party_

 _In honor of the Magnificent Magnus Bane_

 _Friday—11pm._

Drinks & _MB provided._

 _Dance like it's your last night on earth!_

Underneath, was the address to Magnus's Brooklyn loft. Alec looked back up at Izzy. "What in the Angel is this?" he demanded.

Izzy touched his knee but didn't answer his question. Instead, she said, "I went to see Magnus the other day."

Alec lowered the invitation. "Why?"

"To tell him that I forgave him, that I understood what happened. To thank him for everything he did for us," she said.

Alec didn't want to ask, but he couldn't help himself. "How…" He swallowed. "how is he?" Izzy smiled, but it didn't touch her eyes.

"He is not okay, Alec. He's very, very not okay."

Alec felt a chill run through him. He grabbed her wrist. "Where is he going, Iz?" She didn't respond, but her eyes were suddenly shining in the dim light.

And suddenly he knew. The sore in the center of his chest became a second throbbing heartbeat as panic blossomed inside of him. Magnus had decided to accept his father's offer.

xxx

Magnus watched the screen of his phone light up again. It vibrated lightly against the coffee table. He stroked chairman meow and let it ring silently in the dark apartment.

When he had come home earlier, after a grueling day of setting his affairs in order, the sun had still been streaming in the windows. He had intended to just take a moment to sit down and rest but Chairman had other ideas. The tiny cat had curled up in his lap and fallen asleep. So he had eased his shoes off, settled back on the couch, and watched the orange sun set the city's buildings on fire.

At some point he must have dozed off. Nights had become impossible. He couldn't remember the last time he had a good night sleep. His stomach clenched. Actually, he did remember. His thoughts strayed to a certain golden eyed shadow hunter who's lips tasted like …. he jerked his thoughts away. Better not to prod that wound.

Chairman shifted and started to purr. Magnus scratched under his chin. The phone lit up again, vibrating on the coffee table. He could see Alec's name on the screen. The hollow place in his chest seemed to grow. Complete radio silence for 12 days and now eight calls in the past hour. Alec must have learned about his going away party.

Magnus sighed and stood up. Chairman protested, uncurling and stretching in his arms, as he made his way to the kitchen. He deposited the cat on the floor with a soft thud, filled the cat bowl, and leaned back against the counter, crossing his legs. Listening to the empty sound of his apartment, it wasn't hard to understand why he had made his decision.

He loved this world. He loved the music and art and fashion. He loved sex and good food and exotic travel destinations. He loved people with all their messy, complicated problems. He loved the delights of new technology. Thank the devil for espresso machines on every corner, hot indoor showers, and Netflix, he thought to himself with a small smile. Each generation was a new marvel. He had revealed in the passing of time for centuries.

But he was tired. His loneliness was a rotting tooth in his heart— ugly and aching. For a moment he had thought, with Alec, that things could be different. That maybe he had finally found something new. Something untainted by the years, that was worth fighting for. If Magnus closed his eye's he could feel the ghost of Alec's lips on his own and the urgent press of his hands in the dark.

But that was over now. Immortal life was a series of chapters and this one was clearly done. Just because it hurt more then usual didn't make it any different then all the other times he had left. Magnus fingered the invitations strewn around on kitchen counter. Alec's silence over the past couple of weeks had been all the answer he needed. It was time to move on.

He looked around the dark empty apartment and shook his head. It would be a shame to waste his last few days in this world feeling sorry for himself. He straightened his shoulders, if there was one thing he knew, it was how to chase away the pain: he planned to throw the party of the century.

A small grin crept over his face, and Magnus knew he must look ridiculous standing alone in his quiet apartment. He was going to drink and dance and get laid, until any thoughts of a certain dark haired shadow hunter were swept away. He knew a handsome young vampire who's talented hands and mouth would be the perfect way to burn away the taste of Alec's skin. He deserved one last epic party.

Because he was Magnus Bane, damn it. And he was going to go out in style.


	16. Chapter 16

**I went down to a place in Brooklyn**

 **Where you tripped on LSD**

 **And I found myself reminded**

 **To keep you far away from me.**

 **I'm a wanderess**

 **I'm a one night stand,**

 **Don't belong to no city,**

 **Don't belong to no man,**

 **I'm the violence in the pouring rain,**

 **I'm a hurricane.**

 **—** **Hurricane (BADLANDS), Halsey**

 **Just in case you need to know what Magnus is dancing to. ; )**

Chapter 16

Alec had lost track of how long he had been standing on the dark sidewalk staring up at Magnus's apartment. Music pounded out of the open loft windows in a hard steady beat, and the lights from the party pulsed around the silent buildings in a swirling storm of purples and blues and reds. Glitter drifted through the night air like falling snow. A group of mundanes skirted around him on the sidewalk, oblivious to the shattering music or drunk werewolves laughing hysterically on the stoop in front of them.

Izzy touched his elbow. He jumped. "How long are we going to stand out here, big brother?" she asked gently. Embarrassed, he shrugged. She smiled sympathetically. "Magnus will talk to you, Alec." She glanced above her and then back at him. "I'm not sure if your timing is the best, but he's _crazy_ about you!"

Alec started for the stairs, pushing past the down worlders who had stopped laughing and watched them go with cold eyes. Alec glared back without breaking stride, Izzy trailing behind him. "I had no idea that Magnus would even consider going with his father. It's insane," Alec said over his shoulder. "I don't really have a choice about the timing."

Izzy grabbed his arm as they reached the first landing. He stopped and looked down at her. She had changed into a tight red dress and tall stilettos that matched the golden whip wrapped around her forearm. She looked exactly like Izzy—tough and dangerous. She looked like someone who _belonged_ at the High Warlock of Brooklyn's underground party.

Alec shifted uncomfortably in his plain black jeans, glad he had at least pulled on a dark blue button down. Izzy straightened his collar, undoing a third button and tugging it open. The tailored shirt hugged his body and had silver accents around the seams. It was the fanciest thing he owned outside of a tux. Of course, it was a gift from Magnus. At the time, Alec had thought it was ridiculous but now he was kind of glad he had it. Izzy continued to fiddle with his collar as she said, without meeting his eye, "I just want you to be prepared for what you might see up there."

He grabbed her wrist. "What's that supposed to mean Iz?"

She cleared her throat, glancing up at him through her dark lashes. "You've never been to anything like this before. Magnus's parties are… unique," she finished lamely, shaking her head.

"What are you saying?"

Isabelle fell silent as a female warlock with light lavender skin brushed past them on the way up to the party. The girl was wearing a silver skirt that barely covered the backs of her thighs and a lacy indigo bra. Alec stared after her, noting the matching purple thong and tiny heart tattoo on her left butt cheek as she climbed the stairs.

Izzy sighed and waved her hand vaguely when he looked back at her. "Magnus throws the most notorious parties in the City. Every down worlders for miles wants to be here tonight. They are wild. Anything can happen. He…" she trailed off.

Alec arched his eyebrow at her. She raised her hands, her voice low now. "He puts something in the air." His gaze was steady as he waited.

Izzy ran her hand through her dark hair restlessly, clearly uncomfortable having this conversation with her brother. "Its like a drug. Only better because there are absolutely no side effects once he waves the magic away. They call it MB. As far as I know, Magnus is the only one who can do it. It makes people lose all their inhibitions. It makes you feel good…r _eally good_. " She looked away.

Alec thought of the last time he had been in Magnus's bed. He knew exactly what the warlock was capable of doing with his magic. He blushed.

"And you know this how?" he asked.

Izzy lifted her chin defiantly, despite the flush rising in her cheeks. "Not all of us like to punch things during our time off. I met Meliorn at one of Magnus's parties."

Alec sighed and started up the last flight of stairs. Izzy was silent but when they reached Magnus's door he felt a sting on his arm. He glanced down as Izzy applied a breathless rune to his skin. She quickly drew one on her own wrist too. "This will help combat the effects of the MB," she said. "Try not to breath too much." He rolled his eyes, and stepped inside.

If he hadn't known it was Magnus's apartment, he wouldn't have recognized it. All the furniture was gone, leaving a space that looked more like a nightclub then a home. Strobe lights pulsed to the beat of the music. One wall was taken up completely with a long red bar, where a warlock with long curling horns served drinks to the throng of people crowding around it. The music was catastrophically loud, filling his senses until he could barely think.

The frantic electronic beat was a swirling tempest baring down on them. The center of the room a churning mass of people dancing. Half naked down worlders undulated against each other, the heavy rhythm surging around them. Even Izzy looked overdressed in comparison to all the skin on the dance floor.

The room was oppressively hot, and filled with the strange smell of burning metal that sometimes accompanied magic. The colored lights flashed over damp skin. Everywhere he looked was gliding hands and lips skimming over lips. The relentless bass threatened to swallowed his pulse like a second heart beat.

The air was filled with a thick blue fog that sparked with glitter. He took an experimental breath and immediately felt his shoulders loosen. His lips tingled, and heat unknotted in his groin. It felt like a veil had dropped over his eyes and everything seemed to soften around the edges. The deep throbbing of the bass seemed to be coming from somewhere behind the muscles in his abdomen.

Izzy tugged him through the crowd toward the bar that sat up above the rest of the dance floor. It glowed red, like a beacon. As he shoved through the throng, skin pressed all around. His hands itched to touch something. Without thinking he let his fingertips run across the small of someone's back before letting his sister pull him forward with a jerk. The floor vibrated and jumped. He felt a hand snake under his shirt and trail across his abdomen. He tensed and hissed at the contact. The heat in the room was like a weight baring down on them, the air thick and humid. He felt sweat run down his spine, his shirt plastering to his back.

The music changed to a slow sensual beat just as they reached the bar. The song rippled through the dance floor like a dark wave. Bodies moved closer, hips flush against hips. The down worlders sang along, their voices rising above the noise. Alec turned back to the crowd, searching for Magnus.

And just like that, the dancers parted.

Magnus seemed to be surrounded in his own light. He was on fire, blue embers luminous under his skin. His hips moved with the carnal rhythm, his body arching and swaying in time with the music. The kohl under his eyes were deep purple bruises, his long lashes glittered in the lights. He looked exotic and untouchable.

Magnus's eyes were closed as if he were hearing the music with his body. His chest was bare, except for three long golden chains that accentuated the glimmer on his caramel skin. The shadows dipping into the hollow at his throat and skimmed across the plane of his hip bones as he moved. His hair was spiked and styled with dark red accents, but it curled loosely against his damp forehead. The top button of his leather pants was undone, and they hung so loose at his waist that Alec couldn't help but follow the line of dark hair to where it dipped below his zipper.

Heat surged through him, hot and liquid. Magnus rolled his hips, undulating to the loose beat in a way that made Alec think of sweaty twisted sheets and the sound of gasps in the dark. The churning crowd of half naked bodies writhed around him, a hedonistic backdrop to the warlock's movement. Alec swallowed thickly. Magnus was simply sex in motion.

Alec felt unfiltered desire, hard and molten, shoot straight to his groin. He couldn't have ripped his eye's away from Magnus if he wanted to. The warlock lifted his arms, the toned muscles in his torso rippling as he flowed to the music. He wound his hands around the head of the vampire dancing behind him, weaving his fingers into the stranger's blond hair. Alec stiffened. He hadn't even realized that Magnus was dancing with anyone until that moment.

The vampire was young, tall and devastatingly handsome. Alec watched, his hand clenching into fists, as the bastard's hands glided around the warlock's ribcage. Magnus arched his neck, his eye's still closed, as he slid against the man's naked chest. Alec saw with growing horror that there were two puncture marks at the base of Magnus's neck.

The music swelled and the pair gyrated against each other, dipping and flowing with the throbbing beat. He felt a roar in his ears. Alec tracked the young vampire's hands as they slid across Magnus's golden skin, his fingertips dipping below the warlock's waistband as he bent to lick the sweat off Magnus's shoulder. Alec stopped breathing. He felt like a knife had been shoved up under his ribs. Magnus lifted his beautiful face, twisting his body so their lips would meet as they continued to dance.

The air became red mist. The world hollowed out, and the dancers slowed. He felt Izzy grab his elbow, but he charged forward without thinking, shoving bodies out of his way as he pushed through the manic crowd. The vampire was trailing his lips up Magnus's throat, licking the wound at the base of his neck.

The young man barely had time to look up before Alec punched him in the face.

"Alec!" he heard his sister scream. But he was beyond listening. The vampire staggered back, but Alec didn't give him time to recover before he punch him in the throat. The vampire gagged, his eye's bulging. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth—Magnus's blood. Alec reached for his blade.

The electricity that shot through him felt like being hit by lightening. His body stiffened, and he cried out. The music changed as he dropped to one knee. His muscles clenched hard once and then loosened. He gasped. The pain was white hot and then gone. The down worlders around him started dancing again. "That is quite enough Alec." Magnus said from over his head.

Alec looked down at his hands and saw the aura of blue fire dancing just above his skin. "You shocked me," he said in disbelief as he staggered to his feet. Magnus was fuming, his face a hard mask. The blue fog in the room flared brighter. The music became more frantic and angry.

"You punched my date in the face," Magnus countered, his slitted eyes glittered like cold emerald chips. But Alec didn't care, because at moment the vampire bastard was not touching him. And for one insane minute that was all that mattered. Magnus was talking to him and no one was touching him. Defiant, Alec narrowed his eye's at his lover.

Magnus's face changed. He looked shocked.

Alec lifted his chin. Magnus had seen. Which was no surprise, since Alec had done nothing to hide the raw expression on his face. He knew what had been written there—possession, plain and simple. And he didn't care. His heart was thrumming to the deafening music, and it pounded one word over and over in his ears: _Mine. Mine. Mine._

And then the dance floor disappeared.

xxx

The cold rain stung the heated skin of his shoulders, but Magnus ignored it as he watched Alec look around the rooftop, getting a bearing on his new surroundings. The boy swung his wild eye's in his direction, and Magnus felt the erotic heat of Alec's presence scorch through him despite the situation. Furious, he charged forward.

"What the hell was that?" Magnus yelled, shoving him hard with both hands. Alec stumbled back, caught by surprise as Magnus continued to advance.

He was gorgeous, Magnus thought. The rain plastering his black shirt against his toned body, his eyes were hooded from the MB, and water dripping off his bottom lip. Magnus wanted to climb up his body and pull him to the ground. He wanted to do things to this boy that would shock the neighbors looking down at them from all the windows above.

Magnus swallowed and pushed him again. This time, Alec was ready, planting his feet so that Magnus almost ran into him. The proximity of their bodies making him dizzy. Alec grabbed his wrist.

"That vampire was touching you," Alec grated back, his eyes dark and unhinged. His black hair clung against his pale cheeks, and his lips looked impossibly red in the dim light. Magnus gritted his teeth against the undeniable desire to taste them. "He _bit_ you," Alec seethed, his gaze skittering down to rest on his mouth. Magnus almost lost his composure.

But the hurt was still fresh, a raw wound throbbing just beneath the surface. Magnus forced his lips to quirk in a bitter smirk. His eyes narrowed. He leaned forward, invading Alec's space. His voice low and seductive, he breathing out the words, "I wanted him to bite me Alec. It feels good. Better then you can imagine. I wanted to dance with him—to have his hands on me."

Magus let his tongue dart out to wet the bottom of his lip. Alec tracked it with his eyes, his hand tightening on Magnus's wrist. "I wanted to feel good. To forget you. And later…" he let his voice trial off for impact, lifting his head so that their eyes met. "I'm going to take him to bed and make him scream my name."

Alec's eyes darkened. He snarled, red spots appearing high on his cheeks. He spun Magnus around, crowding him against a wall. Magnus found himself shoved harshly against the brick, the stone scraping his palms as he braced himself against the shadow hunters sudden onslaught. Alec's urgent hands splayed against his stomach muscles, pulling them roughly together until Alec's arousal was flush against the cleft of Magnus's ass. Magnus gasped raggedly.

Alec's hand knotted in Magnus's wet hair, exposing his neck as he sucked the rain off of his skin, the boy's mouth searing a hot trail down to the curve of his shoulder. Without thinking Magnus's hands sparked, and Alec's chest was bear. The shadow hunter did not even flinch as he molded their bodies together more tightly. The cold rain slicked between their skin, a sinful contrast of hot and cold, that made Magnus grit his teeth.

Magnus pushed his hips back, grinding himself against the boy's cock. Alec groaned, a low rumble that made Magnus fist his hands against the brick wall, his knuckles scraping against the rough stone. Alec leaned forward, his hand dipping below Magnus's waistband, the side of his fingers grazing his erection. Magnus's hips bucked involuntarily. It had been centuries since he had been so turned on. Magnus closed his eye's, desperately reaching for control. Alec's words were hot in his ear, "You are mine, Magnus Bane. I don't want anyone's hands on you but mine." He shuddered, desperately wanting to believe the words.

Alec turned him roughly in the circle of his arms, his lips crashing down on his. For a moment, Magnus could think about nothing, but the boy's tongue on his own. He tasted like rain and salt. As if on their own, his hands tangled in the boys dark strands, pulling at his hair as he desperately tried to get closer. Alec's hands were everywhere, roaming the damp skin of his body like wild animals, until they swept up to his face, caging his jaw. Magnus thrust his tongue into the boy's mouth, completely undone. The kiss was all teeth, and tongue, and lips warring together. Magnus tore his mouth away, gasping harshly for breath as Alec kissed his way down his jaw. Magnus lifted his face to the sky as water ran down his face like tears. He was drowning.

With the last ounce of self preservation he had, Magnus pushed against his chest and staggered away, desperately trying to get away from Alec's urgent hands and whisky eyes. He shook his head, raindrops flying around him. "No," Magnus choked out.

Alec was standing where he had left him, hands loose at his sides, pupils blown wide. The rain slid through the dark hair in his chest, down the ridges of his toned stomach, and below the lip of his jeans. Magnus fisted his hands until he felt the nails cutting sharply into his palms.

Magnus took another shuttering breath, straightening. "No, Alec Lightwood. I am no ones. I never have been. And I certainly can't be yours. I think that is well established." Magnus took another step back, his legs unsteady. "You want me in your bed. That much is clear. But if you wanted me for anything more, you would have come sooner. Your silence said what you do not have the ability to say."

Magnus felt a darkness that he had never known welling up inside of him. Alec started forward, but Magnus held his hand out. "No," he said again. Alec kept moving, his eyes impossibly big in his face, his breath ragged. "Please," Magnus begged.

It was the "please" that did it. Alec froze. For a moment the only sound on the rooftop was the pounding music below them and the sound of their uneven breath. Alec's shoulders sagged. The space between them suddenly seemed wide and impossible.

"Magnus, I didn't come here for this," Alec said with a sigh of resignation. The boy drew his hands through his soaked hair, smoothing it back from his face. Magnus could see the water pooling in the hollow of his collarbone. "You can't go with your father. Why would you even think that's a good idea?" he said shaking his head in confusion.

Magnus took a breath, glad to be back on familiar footing. This he could deal with. He knew what he wanted. He was a centuries old warlock, and he always had his own best interest in mind. Somehow, though, when Alec was nearby he couldn't think straight. The shadow hunter confused him. Every time the boy was near, what he wanted seemed muddled, as if he couldn't see the future clearly. Hell, he couldn't even see the next moment clearly.

Magnus had a sudden vivid flash of memory of Will appearing on his steps late into the night with wild eye's, dark hair standing up all over his head and shaking hands. Magnus had felt sympathy for the shadow hunter at the time, unable to imagine how Will could have lost such control of his feelings. Now he understood. It wasn't a choice at all.

Magnus crossed unsteadily over to the roof ledge. He leaned his palms on the rough stone and squinted through the down pour. A city full of millions of people, and he was still alone—as usual. He wasn't sure why he had ever expected anything more. The rain, which had been a light drizzle, took that moment to become a deluge. He shivered as it sluiced down the back of his neck.

When he didn't speak, Alec stepped closer. Magnus stiffened. "This is crazy Magnus. You can't leave. You'll be miserable for the rest of your life. You don't deserve that. And neither do I."

Magnus turned, amused at having his words thrown back at him. Alec stood in the driving rain, water pooling around his boots. Magnus could easily throw up a barrier to keep them dry but somehow he didn't want to. Somehow the torrent of rain was like a physical buffer between him and the shadow hunter. He suddenly felt dreadfully cold.

Magnus realized with a sharp painful hitch in his breath that he had just touched Alec for the last time. He wanted to snap his fingers and disappear. He wanted to be drunk and dancing and oblivious. But something held him there on the rooftop. The tiniest thread of hope.

"What can I say to make you stay?" Alec asked.

Magnus sighed. His heart knew there was something that Alec could say that would make him stay, but if he hadn't said it yet…

"Alec," Magnus said, his voice soft. "I have made my decision." He turned back to the city. "There is nothing left for me here. I have been in this world for a long time. I am done with it."

Magnus didn't want to hold his breath, but it was involuntary. He waited. He hoped.

"You are being dramatic, Magnus. You're hurt and angry. You don't really mean this. Its crazy!" Alec insisted.

Magnus felt the thread slip through his hands. For a minute he thought he might get the fairytale ending—which was ridiculous. He was a warlock with demon blood. Alec was a shadow hunter with angel blood. They had been doomed from the start. Romeo and Juliet was only romantic if it wasn't _your_ heart involved, he mused.

He bent his head and the rain dripped off the tips of his eyelashes. "Go home Alec," he said softly before snapping his fingers and leaving the shadow hunter standing alone in the rain.

xxx

 **This was easily my favorite chapter to write. I'm kinda in love with the idea of Magnus dancing. FYI: I like chapter cliffhangers. I do not, however like book endings that rip out your heart and stomp all over it. (I'm looking at you Cassandra Clare-Lady Midnight). Don't worry, I heart happy endings.**

 **Thank you for all the reviews! If you've been reading and haven't reviewed, I would sure appreciate it! Thanks! : )**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Alec stormed into the Institute with Jace and Izzy close on his heels. He threw his bow into the weapons cabinet with a clatter and ripped open the collar of his gear. The ichor from the demon burned into his shoulder, and Alec hissed as he peeled his shirt off the blistering skin. The pain was white hot, sharpening the edges of his vision. He welcomed it.

"What the holy hell got into you back there, Alec?" Jace demanded, slamming his seraph blade down on the table. Izzy stood next to him, shifting uneasily as she wound her whip back onto her forearm. Alec didn't think he had ever seen his sister nervous before. He felt a pang of guilt, meeting Jace's broken eyes defiantly. His brother cursed viciously under his breath, pulled his stele from his jacket, ant started to cross the room to him. Alec shook his head at Jace and stepped back, wincing when the movement pulled at the deep cut stretching across his ribs.

Jace shoved his hands through his hair, the blond strands tinged with blood that was not his own. His parabatai's lips tightened at they glared across the table at each other. "Help me understand this, Alec. First you dive in front of that demon—a total unnecessary, dumb ass move—and now you won't let me heal you? What the hell is going on? Since when are you the reckless one?" Jace yelled, throwing his hands up.

Alec lunged forward, towering over his brother. He laughed bitterly, narrowing his eyes at his parabatai. "You're welcome Jace. By the Angel, all the times I've saved you from being a complete idiot, and I make ONE mistake and you act like I've lost my mind!" Alec was shouting now, his hand shoved Jace's shoulder. Jace did not budge as he glared up at Alec, taking the punishment.

Alec's hands itched to punch him but some where on the edge of his awareness was the knowledge that he was not angry at Jace at all. He HAD been reckless today. Going after those demons without backup today had been bordering on suicide. It was only Jace's quick blade that had saved him.

He felt the tension flow out of him as quickly as it had come. Since Magnus had disappeared from the roof top last night he couldn't seem to get control of his emotions. He had never felt so unhinged. Burying an arrow into a demon's heart had just been a bandaid to forgetting Magnus. God, Magnus. He might be gone already. Alec stumbled away from Jace as the pain of it roared through him. He turned away, hopefully, in time to hide the anguish from his siblings.

Izzy put a hand on his Jace's arm. "Jace," she pleaded, her voice soft, gentle and un-Izzy like. Jace spun on her in confusion. Alec unbuckled his nearly empty quiver and slammed it into down next to his bow. The arrows jumped and scattered across the floor. Jace's eyebrows rose in surprise. Alec always treated his weapons with the utmost respect.

"Alec…hey, what is going on?" Jace asked, looking at Izzy. Alec didn't answer, his head bowed as he struggled to catch his breath. Jace stepped forward, but Alec flinched away from him. It was Izzy who answered.

"It's Magnus, Jace. He's leaving."

Jace turned to her, his hand never leaving his parabatai's shoulder. "What? Why?"

Izzy shrugged helplessly, but Alec saw her incline her head ever so slightly in his direction. He clenched his jaw.

Alec finally turned. He suddenly felt exhausted. "He's going to be with his father. I went last night to try to talk him out of it, but he's determined," Alec's told Jace, his voice monotone.

Numb, he started down the hallway to his room. The others followed. The order this morning to spend the day hunting down a demon nest in the center of SoHo had seemed like a blessing. A way to push back the agony that was ripping him apart from the inside. But now he just wanted to be alone. To let a hot shower wash off the day's demon blood and so he could cry with dignity. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold in the despair. It was choking him.

"Please just leave me alone," Alec said over his shoulder, fighting to hold his voice steady. Jace and Izzy followed him into his room. He didn't bother to flick on the lights. A single witch light glowed on the bedside table, throwing the room into deep shadows, hiding his face. He sat down heavily on the end of the bed, peeling the jacket from his shoulders. He grimaced as the movement tore open the wound in his side.

"Alec," Izzy started. He sighed. "You can't just give up. I don't know what happened last night between the two of you, but you have to go talk him out of this!"

Alec started to answer when a sudden movement in the bed covers caught his attention. His dagger was already in his hand when he recognized the white tabby who yawned and uncurled himself from the bed. Alec's heart stuttered in his chest. Izzy flicked on the lights as Chairman Meow padded into his lap, curled up and started to purr.

He didn't have to ask how the small cat had ended up in his bedroom. Or why. Alec felt like he was falling even though he was sitting still.

He kept his head bowed, his fingers tangling in the tiny cat's soft fur. Chairman vibrated louder and rubbed against his hand, oblivious to the drama in the room. Alec felt the bed dip as Izzy sat next to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he couldn't hide the way his hands shook as he scratched the tabby behind his ear.

"I guess I have a cat now," he choked out.

Izzy squeezed him. "Oh, Alec," she said. Alec lifted his head to look at Jace, somehow hoping that his best friend might have an answer that he had not thought of. For once, his brother wasn't wearing his usual smirk. Jace's arms were crossed and the space in between his eyebrows was furrowed.

"What did you say to Magnus?" Jace demanded.

Alec frowned in confusion. "What?"

Jace approached, crouching down in front of him, and stroking Chairman's back absently. Jace regarded Alec carefully, clearly looking for something before he nodded to himself. Alec shifted uncomfortably. They didn't usually do heart to heart talks. He and Jace had always been more the fight-it-out type. This touchy feely thing made him itchy. But he stilled at Jace's next words. "What exactly did you say to Magnus yesterday?"

Alec shrugged, a blush crawling up his cheeks as he remembered pressing the warlock against the brick wall. If he closed his eye's he could still feel the contours of Magnus's body against his own. He could still taste the rain and salt of Magnus's skin on his lips. It left him feeling hot, shaky, and hollow. He shook his head at Jace.

He avoided Jace's eyes, but Izzy had sat up now. They were both looking at him. Izzy seemed to have caught on to something. He glanced over at her.

"By the Angel, Alec," she said with dawning realization, her eyes still wet. "You didn't tell him."

Alec's eyes darted between the two of him. He tensed. Izzy shook her head, running her hands through her dark hair in disbelief. His siblings shared a look.

"Alec, you are an idiot," Jace said, his words harsh but his tone gentle. "Even I know you have to say the words." Alec felt his stomach swoop. He clenched his hands into fists. Jace picked up Chairman and stood with the tiny white bundle of fur in his hands.

Izzy put her hand on his arm. "Alec, you need to leave right now. It could already be to late," she said urgently.

Alec felt panic, as white hot as the pain in his shoulder coil in the center of his chest. Izzy pulled up his sleeve and applied the healing rune to his arm. He tightened the muscles in his stomach as his wounds started to heal, the familiar painful tingling battling with the nausea. But he knew they were right. He had screwed up.

"What do I say?" Alec asked them desperately. "What do I tell him?"

Izzy smiled, her eye's bright. "Everything, Alec…you have to tell him everything."

xxxx

Alec slipped into Magnus's silent apartment with Chairman sleeping in his arms. As if sensing that he was home, the tiny cat uncurled, and meowed softly as Alec deposited him on the ground. Chairman padded away in the direction of the kitchen as Alec made his way down the hall. The bedroom was still and dark as he stepped inside, shutting the door quietly behind him. Now that he was here, he stood frozen, staring at the shadowed canopy bed.

It had taken him over an hour to walk to the apartment from the makeshift Institute. Walking through Brooklyn at 3 am with a tiny bundle of fur in your arms was not for the faint hearted, but as fate would have it he had been left completely alone. He had been half hoping that someone would try to mug him. Anxiety simmered just under his skin, and he longed to punch something. But it had been just him, a purring cat and the lonely street lights—as if the whole city was hiding.

He had no idea what he was going to say. No idea how he could ask for forgiveness. No idea of how to get Magnus to stay. He just knew he had to try. Because every time he moved it felt like there was a piece of gravel trapped between his heart and his breast bone. It rubbed and grated against him, a constant reminder of what he had to lose.

He squinted at the bed, as he moved further into the room. The emerald sheets were in disarray, hanging off one edge like whoever had been sleeping there had been haunted by nightmares. The massive bed was empty.

The moon was almost full, and the light drifted in through the balcony window and settled on everything like snow. The room was quiet except for the hum of the city below, so he jumped when Magnus spoke from the chair sitting in front of the cold fireplace.

"I cannot imagine why you have come here, Alec," Magnus said in a low voice. "But if it's for a consolation fuck, I"m not interested."

Magnus laughed—low and bitter. Alec barely heard him mutter under his breath, "Well, maybe I am." He sounded ancient and heavy as if all the centuries of his existence had settled on him in one night.

Alec felt his stomach rolled with nausea. He was horrible at saying the right thing, and now he was standing on the edge of a moment when his words meant everything. The idea of losing Magnus was something he could barely touch with the edges of his mind. It seemed like a vast hole was opening inside of him, and he was desperately skirting the edge of it.

He walked over to where Magnus was sitting, putting his hand on the back of the chair. Magnus did not look up. He was dressed in a silk maroon robe, a gold sash tied loosely around his waist. The robe gaped open to where his navel would have been and Alec flushed when he realized that Magnus was not wearing anything underneath. The warlock's feet were bare; his hair soft and disheveled. He was holding a crystal tumbler in one hand, swirling the amber liquid slowly. Magnus stared blankly into the dark fireplace. There were deep hollows under his eye's that had nothing to do with makeup.

"Magnus," Alec started, choking on his name. Magnus lifted the glass to his lips and took a long drink. Alec watched the lines of his throat as he swallowed but did not look up. Did not, in fact, acknowledge Alec at all. Desperation rose up in him like a flood, lapping over his head.

He came around the chair and crouched in front of Magnus. The warlocks face was stone, his dark eyes unfathomable in the moonlight. He tilted his head back and finished the liquor in one swallow, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Alec touched his knee, and Magnus flinched.

Alec closed his eyes for a moment, as he grasped for the right thing to say. His heart thundered in his ears making it hard to think. It seemed impossible. The person sitting in front of him was like a shell of the vibrant man he love. When he opened his eyes Magnus was finally looking at him. Magnus's face was blank as though he was looking at a specimen under glass. Like he found Alec a mildly interesting curiosity.

"Go home Alec." Magnus said, his voice steady but woven with pain he could not hide. Alec winced, hating the way his name sounded on the warlock's lips. Magnus turned to look at the fireplace again.

"We have nothing left to say to each other. It is over," Magnus said as he pushed off the chair, brushing past him to refill his drink. The moonlight glinted off the glass as he took another drink. Alec felt himself balanced on the edge of the hole, as he contemplated the stiff line of Magnus's shoulders. He had already lost him. Alec stood up.

"Izzy told me that I needed to say the words…" He ran his hand through his hair, swallowing dryly. "I love you, Magnus Bane," Alec said softly to the warlocks back. Magnus put his glass down with a click but didn't turn around.

Encouraged, Alec continued, "I know that I don't deserve you. I know that things are impossibly complicated." Alec took a step forward, watching as Magnus's spine stiffened.

Alec plunged on, desperate. "I'm sorry for the way I reacted about your father. Angel knows, I of all people, should not judge anyone on their family." He took another step. He was close enough now that if he reached out he could touch brush the back of Magnus's neck with his fingertips. His dark hair had grown long in the past few weeks, and it curled against the golden skin at his nape. The warlock was still silent. "I have no idea how this relationship could possibly work in the future…my mortality…. Angel, I don't know…half the people I know don't even know I'm gay…" Alec floundered.

He moved the rest of the way forward, so close now that his chest brushed Magnus's back. The warlock didn't move, but his hands gripped the table so hard Alec could see the white of his knuckles. With a confidence he didn't feel Alec circled Magnus's waist with his hands and pulled their bodies together. Alec groaned softly under his breath at the contact. Magnus was unyielding in his arms, but Alec felt him gasp almost inaudibly. A shot of lust, twisted with hope spread through him.

He leaned forward, letting his breath brush against Magnus's ear. "Here's the thing, Magnus—I am devastatingly in love with you. I don't care about the future. I don't care about your father or my mother or the clave or Jace or anything. All I know is that I need you in my life for as long as we have together." He paused letting his lips caress Magnus's shoulder. They both shivered.

"Magnus, I am yours, utterly and completely. I have been yours since the first day we met at your ridiculous cat's birthday party," His voice had faded as he spoke, his heart thundering in his close his eyes, breathing in the smell of smoke and rain that Magnus alway seemed to carry with him.

Alec was suddenly aware, with piercing, painful clarity that this might be the last moment they had together. That life would tilt violently without Magnus, and he would never recover.

Magnus lowered his head, and Alec waited, kissing the back of his neck where the hair curled. He splayed the palm of one hand against Magnus's stomach, feeling the tight muscles jump underneath his fingers. "Please, Magnus." Alec whispered.

All he could hear was the beat of his heart, a caged animal in his chest, and the soft inhalation of Magnus's breath going in and out. _Please._


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

 ** _"_** ** _I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul." —Pablo Neruda_**

Magnus's heartbeat kept time with his own as Alec stood in the dark room holding his future in the silent circle of his own arms. Magnus took a deep shuttering breath, and Alec kept his hands firmly locked around him as he turned—as if by holding Magnus's body close, he could make him stay forever. Alec twisted his hand in the silk of Magnus's robe and dropped his head, unable to meet the warlock's gaze. Alec suddenly wasn't sure how to bear the answer that he knew he would see in Magnus's eyes. It seemed unendurable.

Alec sensed Magnus shift closer, the warlock's fingers suddenly ghosting along his jaw to lift it gently. "By the Angel Alexander, what are you doing to me?" Magnus sighed against his mouth, so close that their breath mingled. The sound of his full name on Magnus's lips was like a fuse being lit beneath his skin.

And then Magnus was kissing him, the soft brush of his mouth stealing Alec's breath. He shivered as Magnus pressed them together, his tongue dipping out to trace the contour of Alec's bottom lip. He tasted like whisky, and smoke, and Magnus. For a moment, Alec was paralyzed and then something nameless bloomed in his chest. He took an uneven breath and pulled Magnus closer with violent desperation. Alec nipped Magnus's bottom lip, their tongues clashing and tangling until he had to come up for air.

Magnus's hands were everywhere—running up the back of his shirt, tangled in his hair, pressing into the back of his jeans. His touch a searing brand on Alec's skin. Magnus yanked Alec's shirt off and then bent to rasp his tongue across the boy's nipple. Alec dug his fingers into the warlock's hair, his breath jagged.

Somehow Alec lifted him, despite the trembling in his hands, and strode across the room. Alec lowered Magnus down to the bed, bracing himself as he kissed the soft curve of Magnus's shoulder. Alec danced his fingertips across the hard plane of Magnus's stomach, feeling it tighten as he loosened the sash. Reverently, he let the edges of the silk robe slip through his fingers as he opened it, gliding his palms up the Magnus's sides. Alec traced each rib, trailed his fingertips down the flat expanse of his torso, and scrapped his nails ever so gently down Magnus's hard arousal.

Magnus looked up at him through hooded eyes, his black hair soft and untamed on the pillow. His lips red and swollen from kissing. He looked exotic and unbelievably sexy.

The warlock arched one elegant eyebrow at him as a sort of challenge. Alec felt the tender center of his sternum tingling like it did when an iratze was a carved on his skin. He pressed his lips to the valley under Magnus's hipbone, tracing the ridge of bone with his tongue as Magnus tangled his hands in Alec's hair. Magnus arched up, gasping and shivering under him as Alec let his lips trail with excruciating slowness to lick the moisture off the tip of his sex. Magnus bucked helplessly under him, making soft needy sounds in his throat that sent heat rippling through him.

Alec didn't want to stop. Nothing mattered but this moment. Nothing mattered but the man under him.

But he _did_ stop, his whole body screaming at him to keep moving. Alec surged up and buried his face in the crook of Magnus's neck, his breath coming in uneven gasps. Alec's hands still roaming Magnus's body restlessly.

Alec was hard. Impossibly hard and ready. The agonizing pause seemed to grow. The muscles in his arms trembled in protest. He could feel the heat and hardness of Magnus against his stomach, and it almost sent him over the edge. It was almost more then he could take but something still made him hesitate.

He needed more. He needed more then the breathed promise of his name and sex in the moonlight. Magnus stroked his hair, his body writhing helplessly beneath Alec's wandering touch.

"Alexander, look at me," Magnus said, his voice low and pleading. Alec braced himself on his forearms and looked into his lover's eyes. They were glamoured, a rich brown that sparked with warm highlights.

"Your eyes," Alec whispered. "Let me see you." Magnus smiled and let the glamour fall from the corner of his eyes in sparks that looked like tears. His green-gold iris's glittered against the emerald sheets as he searched Alec's face. Alec leaned down to kiss the edges of his mouth with aching gentleness before pulling back again.

Magnus grasped Alec's face in both hands, his thumbs rubbing at the corner of the shadow hunter's mouth. Unable to help himself, Alec caught the pad of one thumb in his mouth and sucked. Magnus's eyes flickered and darkened. Alec swirled his tongue around the digit slowly, never breaking the warlock's gaze. Magnus swallowed thickly and pulled back.

"Let me say this darling, before I can't anymore," Magnus chuckled to himself, brushing the hair off Alec's forehead, before running his hands across the bunched muscles in his back. The light scratch of Magnus's nails sent a shiver down Alec's spine. He growled.

"Talk fast, warlock."

Magnus's cat eyes became serious. "Alexander," he said softly. Alec closed his eyes, listening with his whole body. Alec shuddered when Magnus ran his fingertip across his bottom lip.

"I'm sorry." Magnus said. Alec's eyes flew open. "I'm sorry about Isabelle. I should have told you about my father," he paused looking away. "I am ashamed of where I come from. It felt like one problem too many for us to overcome…and I was afraid of losing you." Magnus bit his lip. Alec leaned down and kissed it lightly, but Magnus pulled away. "I don't know how—"

"Will you stay?" Alec interrupted. Magnus didn't answer, avoiding his gaze. Magnus's body was tense under his hands. Alec bent forward and let his tongue trace the shell of Magnus's ear. "Stay," he breathed.

Instead of answering Magnus rolled his hips up, and Alec bit back a groan as the movement molded their bodies together. And then Magnus's hands were on the fly of his jeans, and Alec sucked in his stomach, as Magnus's fingers brushed him. Magnus unzipped him slowly, letting his long fingers dip below the waistband of his boxer briefs to pull them tighter together. Alec could feel sweat beading on his forehead from holding himself back. "Magnus," he groaned through gritted teeth. "Answer the damn question, or I'm going to stand up and leave."

At that Magnus threw back his head and laughed out loud. The sound skittered through Alec like lightning. He couldn't help but trace the line of Magnus's throat with his tongue, tasting salt and skin. In one smooth movement, Magnus flipped them, his hips straddling Alec's as he loomed over him. The warlock leaned forward to capture Alec lips, his tongue sweeping into his mouth. Alec kissed him back, surging up to meet him halfway. Hope seared through him.

Alec saw familiar blue sparks behind his eyelids, and suddenly he was naked. He gasped into Magnus's mouth, as the warlock pressed their hips together, all thoughts evaporating at the delicious heat building in the pit of his stomach. He ran his hand down to the small of Magnus's back, urging him to move faster, his hips jerking. " _Oh god_ ," he said, throwing his head back.

He whimpered when Magnus sat up, the pressure gone as he kissed his way down Alec's body. Alec leaned up on his elbows to watch as the warlock licked his way down the flat plain of his stomach, pausing to rasp against the silvery scars twining around his hip. Magnus paused over his dripping cock, looking up at him through his dark lashes. Alec almost came at the sight.

He suddenly desperately wished he wasn't a virgin. That he knew what to do. He wanted to please Magnus. How could he ever hope to keep up? He was literally four centuries behind.

Magnus's dark hair fell in front of his glittering green eyes, and he grinned wickedly. Alec clenched his fists in the sheet, at the warlock's hot breath on his throbbing arousal. Magnus smiled. "I'll stay," he said.

Alec had a second for the relief to uncoil inside of him, bright and hot, before Magnus took him into his mouth in one swift movement. Alec cried out. He tried to push back the rising tide of heat that threatened to overwhelm him, desperate to hold out longer. But Magnus's mouth was tight and wet and he came hard—crying out Magnus's name, his hands tight fists in the sheets, fireworks spiderwebbing in front of his eyes. The heat was a like a flash fire inside of him. It radiated out from where Magnus licked and stroked him to every corner of his body and swallowed him whole.

He came down, panting, his whole body covered in sweat. Magnus straddled him again, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and grinning.

"I'm sorry," Alec managed as soon as he was able. He felt a blush climb up his cheeks. Magnus leaned over him, caging Alec's chest with his arms.

Magnus wiggled his eyebrows. "Oh, we're not done yet, darling," he said. Magnus kissed him, and Alec could taste himself on Magnus's lips. Impossibly, he felt heat shoot through him again, and Magnus chuckle. "Stamina rune," the warlock muttered, smiling against Alec's mouth. "Sweet Angel, why have I never dated a shadow hunter before?" he said to himself as he sat up, kneeling in between Alec's legs.

Magnus's green eyes glowed down at Alec in the dark. The moonlight spilling through the window curled itself around the dips and curves of Magnus's lean body.

Alec wanted to touch him. It seemed like he would never get tired of touching him.

Magnus pushed Alec's legs up till his feet were flat on the bed, scrapping his nails gently down the backs of his thighs. Alec tensed. He felt exposed and was once again acutely aware of his inexperience. The heat in his belly cooled to a flutter.

"Relax, my love," Magnus purred, wrapping one hand around his own erection. Alec watched as Magnus touched himself, wetness dripped from the tip of his cock, and Alec groaned at the sight. Magnus waved his free hand in the air and a shower of blue and gold sparks washed over them both. Alec's whole body tingled into goosebumps and then warmth washed over him. Magnus bent his head, his dark hair trailing over Alec's chest as he licked one nipple. Alec sighed and his whole body loosened.

Alec tried not to tense when he felt pressure at his entrance, and then Magnus was pushing one slick finger inside of him. He shifted and moaned. It felt strange but not unpleasant. "Hold on for me, darling." Magnus whispered and then added a second finger, twisting and stretching him. Alec grimaced. Magnus hesitated, and Alec could tell that it took something from him to wait. He could feel the tremor in the bunched muscles of the warlock's back.

"It's okay," Alec choked out, wanting desperately to make Magnus happy. To give him as much pleasure as he had received. A little pain was nothing to a shadow hunter. He could handle it.

Magnus smiled, a secret knowing smile, and curled his fingers. Alec saw white as pleasure crashed into him like a tsunami. He gasped, arching into the feeling helplessly as Magnus brushed the bundle of nerves again.

"I can't wait…" Magnus said, his voice urgent and apologetic as his fingers disappeared. "Alec…I need…"

And then Magnus was poised over him, his fingers digging into Alec's hips as he pushed slowly inside of him. Alec gasped at the feeling of being filled up, and Magnus froze halfway. His caramel skin was covered in a thin sheen of sweet, his chest heaving. Magnus was visibly shaking now with effort.

Alec reached up and slid his hands up the taut skin of Magnus's sides. Magnus looked at him, his eyes dark and blind with passion as he waited. Magnus's head dropped when Alec moved his hips experimentally. And then Magnus was thrusting inside him to the hilt, his hand slipping between them to grip Alec's throbbing erection. Alec groaned as Magnus slide against his chest, his hips urgent now as he licked the side of Alec's neck. Magnus hand twisted and slide over his arousal, and when Magnus shifted his angle to hit the bundle of nerves inside of him, Alec keened through his teeth. Tension coiled tighter and tighter in his belly.

"Magnus, oh god, _Magnus_ ," he gasped out, his words nearly incoherent as the world tilted and he came again. The pleasure crashed through him in a relentless dark wave that obliterated everything, leaving him shaking and limp.

He tangled his fingers through Magnus's dark hair as the warlock cried out and thrust into him one last time. Magnus trembled as he came, calling Alec's name. Alec kissed and licked the hollow of his throat as Magnus shook and spilled inside of him, his head thrown back. The warlock collapsed, and Alec tucked him beneath his chin as they gasped for breath, running his fingers lightly over Magnus's damp back.

Alec closed his eyes and breathed in Magnus's hair, smelling the musky scent of his lover that was uniquely his own—smoke and sweat and something nameless.

Alec felt ridiculously light, like he was glowing from the inside. Magnus hummed against his chest, a low vibrating sound like a purr. Alec chuckled as the warlock lifted his head and smirked.

"I can't tell, did you enjoy that darling?" Magnus asked, laughter in his voice. He tilted his head and brushed their lips together gently.

Alec pretended to consider his question and then shrugged, "It was a valiant first effort," he answered playfully.

Magnus snorted, "Did a Lightwood just make a joke?"

"Apparently, I'm into trying new things these days—coming out of the closet, saving the world, sex, baring my soul like a teenage girl…"

Magnus laughed again and rolled onto his back. Alec made a sound in the back of his throat when Magnus pulled away. By the Angel, since when did he whimper? Magnus looked over at him in concern, but Alec immediately shook his head. "I'm good Magnus," he said. Magnus nodded and threw one arm over his eyes, using Alec's arm as a pillow. Alec pulled the sheet over their hips, and Magnus sighed. Alec felt himself drifting off, but he couldn't help but watched Magnus's profile as his breath slowed and deepened.

"I'm glad you're staying," he whispered into the dark room, not sure if Magnus was already asleep. Magnus rolled toward him, fitting himself flush against Alec's side. Their legs tangled together, and Magnus brushed his fingers against the raised scar winding itself around his neck.

"Alexander," Magnus said softly, the warlock's breath ruffling the dark hair on Alec's chest. "It has been a long time since anyone has surprised me. But the minute you appeared in my life it feels like everything changed. You make me see the world differently." He paused for a long time, and Alec thought he might have fallen asleep but then Magnus muttered against his chest, almost as if he was talking to himself. "I love you, Alexander. I feel like I've always loved you. I don't know how this is going to work…" Magnus shifted and sighed. "But I could never love ordinary anyway."

Alec kissed his temple, running his fingers through Magnus's dark hair. The sore spot under his sternum had been replaced with something fragile and sweet. He knew that they would have to talk more in the morning but at that moment words didn't seem to matter. Everything in his life had shifted abruptly.

Home was no longer a place. He breathed in Magnus's smell and let himself drift away.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Magnus woke to the sound of his shower running. He cracked one eye open and groaned. The room was still shrouded in darkness, although the soft hint of first light drifted in through the windows. Morning was coming but had not yet arrived.

He stretched and rolled onto his back, noting the looseness in his muscles that only came from a night of vigorous love making. He threw a hand over his eye's and tried to remember the face of the person who had shared his bed the night before. A vision of dark hair, wild lust-filled eyes and a familiar lean body stretching under him pierced Magnus's sleep fogged mind—Alexander.

Magnus couldn't help the grin that split his face as he sighed and burrowed deeper in the covers. The musky sent of sex and Alec lingered in the pillows. Magnus felt his body stir. He glanced toward the bathroom where steam billowed out of the cracked door. He could hear the faint splash of water. Magnus had a sudden, startlingly clear vision of Alexander standing under his warm shower. He could practically see the way the water would slide down Alec's naked body—soap drifting down the constellation of freckles on his shoulders to dip into the curve of his spine. And lower.

Magnus sat up. It was early. He didn't usually make a habit of getting out of bed until the sun was well above the horizon. He was four centuries old, after all—he needed his beauty sleep. Magnus glanced at the clock above the mantel and shook his head. Not yet 7 am and his darling shadow hunter was awake. He groaned and fell back into the bed, the covers puffing up around him. By the Angel, had he fallen in love with a morning person?

Magnus rolled to the side, letting the sheets fall away from his naked hips as he stood and padded across the room. Steam plumed out of the bathroom door when he stepped inside, wrapping him in warmth. His giant walk-in shower hid Alec from view, but Magnus smiled when he heard the shadow hunter singing softly to himself.

He rounded the shower corner and immediately had to pause at the delicious view before him. Alec was facing away, one hand braced against the gray tile. The toned muscles in his back bunched and tightened as he lifted his head to the spray. Alec's skin was a tangle of new black runes and old silver ones, twisting their way around every inch of his body. The boy's eyes were closed as he let the water cascade though his dark hair. Magnus hummed in the back of his throat as he tracked the river of soap as it traced the lines of Alec's lean body.

Alec jumped when Magnus pressed against his back. Magnus let his hands skim over the ridges of his Alec's hips while pressing his mouth to the soft curve of the boy's shoulder. Magnus was already hard, his erection pressing insistently against Alec's backside. The shadow hunter gasped and pressed himself back, molding their bodies together.

"You're awake," Alec managed as Magnus let his hands slip up the boy's biceps, trailing wet kisses against the back of Alec's neck.

"Mmmhmm," Magnus muttered as his palms swept down Alec's sides, spreading wide across the tight muscles of his abdomen before skimming across his already throbbing erection.

Alec turned in the circle of his arms, and Magnus threaded his fingers around the back of the boy's head, tugging him down to capture his wet lips. Alec stumbled backward against the cold tile, pulling Magnus under the spray of water as their tongues tangled together. Magnus came up sputtering as the water streamed into their faces. Alec laughed and shifted them so the shower slide down the center of their bodies. Steam rose around them like a warm fog, and Magnus smiled lazily into Alec's whiskey eyes.

"Maybe this morning thing isn't so bad," Magnus mused, leaning up to suck the water droplet that had collected on Alec's bottom lip. He let his teeth tug at it before soothing it with a breathless kiss. Alec arched an eyebrow at him, flicking away the black hair that hung in front of his eyes. "As long as you promise to always be naked in my shower that is."

Alec grinned down at him. "I was just about to get out," he said, but his hands wandered to the small of Magnus's back and then drifted lower.

Magnus peered up at the shadow hunter though his wet lashes. "But I need someone to wash my back," he pouted, not missing the flush on Alec's cheeks at the idea.

Magnus stepped away from the boy, coating a wash cloth with soap until it was covered in suds. "Would you help?" he asked, pitching his voice low and seductive. Lust flared in Alec's eyes. Magnus felt himself twitch when Alec nodded and took the cloth.

Alec swallowed, pulled Magnus gently out of the spray, and turned him around. Magnus let his head drop forward as the boy came close but kept their bodies apart, heat sparking in the air between them. He shuddered as the warm cloth scrapped against his chest, soap suds streaming in rivulets down his body. The muscles in his stomach clenching as he watched Alec's hand work lower. He tried to lean back, but Alec held his hip firmly in place.

Magnus turned his head slightly to watch Alec's profile as the boy explored him. Alec licked a drop of water off Magnus's neck as the washcloth dragged across the top of his thigh. Magnus groaned as the side of the rough cloth rub slowly against his cock. He lifted his arms to tangle in Alec's damp hair when the boy pulled them together. The washcloth was suddenly gone as Alec let his fingers roam freely across Magnus's slick body. He shuddered at the boy's wandering touch.

Magnus leaned forward a bit, letting Alec's erection slip between his legs. The boy let out a surprised whimper, and his hands stilled. Magnus smiled to himself, bending forward and placing his hands on the teak stool he kept in the shower for just such an occasion. He knew the movement opened him even further, and he could practically hear the boy holding his breath.

Magnus peered over his shoulder at his new lover. Alec dragged his gaze away from the warlock bent in front of him to meet Magnus's eye's Alec shook his head, "I don't know…" he started helplessly. Alec swallowed thickly, trailing one finger slowly down the small of Magnus's back as if he couldn't help himself. The feeling sent fire through Magnus's veins but he willed himself to stay motionless. "I don't want to hurt you," Alec said.

Magnus forced himself not to chuckle at the young shadow hunter. It was definitely not the time to discuss his past sexual conquests. However, it had been quite a few centuries since anyone had been concerned about him during sex, and he was quite sure he could handle his almost-virgin shadow hunter.

He decided a simple response was best. "You won't, darling," Magnus said huskily, "I have magic to take care of that. Believe me when I say that what will make you happy, will also make me happy, my love." To prove the point, he waved a hand coating them with sparks of blue and shimmering gold that left him slick and ready. Alec let out a strangled sound at the warm lubrication on his own erection.

Alec gripped his hips with shaking hands, and Magnus felt him poised at his entrance. Magnus dropped his head between his shoulders, trying to keep his breath steady as Alec pressed forward. He groaned in the back of his throat as the boy filled him, letting his hand stray to his own erection

"Oh god," Alec gasped once he was fulling inside. Magnus felt his whole body tense as he teetered on the edge of instant release. The tendrils of his magic slipped through his fingers, wrapping them in warmth and blue light, heightening their senses as Alec started to thrust slowly. Alec bent forward, rasping his tongue across Magnus's spine as they moved. Magnus whimpered. He wasn't going to last.

"Faster," he ground out through gritted teeth. Alec moved faster, burying himself to the hilt again and again. His roaming hand finding the velvet steel of the warlock's arousal. Magnus's hips bucked backwards as the boy's long fingers twisted around him . Blue sparks rose from the steaming shower floor like fireflies. Magnus's vision narrowed and release found him—a dark roar ripping through him, obliteration anything else.

Magnus barely noticed as Alec cried out his own release, the boy's nails digging bloody half moons into his hips. His breath was ragged but satisfaction curled through him as Alec kissed and licked at the skin of his back, their hearts thudding frantically in rhythm.

For several seconds they shuddered together, their breath loud in the cooling shower spray. Magnus sighed when Alec slipped away, turning to let himself sink down on the bench, his legs like water. Alec was sitting on the tile floor with his eye's closed, the shower washing away the evidence of their lovemaking. He started laughing breathlessly.

Magnus leaned against the wall watching the water sluice down the boy's athletic build and feeling happier then he could remember feeling. He raised his eyebrows at the laughing boy. "What?"

"I can see what the big deal is now," Alec replied, shaking his head.

"About?"

"Sex. How do people just walk around doing normal stuff like laundry or fighting demons when they could be doing _that_?"

"I have no idea, my love." Magnus responded with a chuckle. "No idea." The sound of their soft laugher echoed in the warm bathroom.

xxx

Magnus propped his feet up on the metal railing of the balcony, sipping coffee and watching the sun rise through the cracks of the city. He leaned back against Alec's broad chest, the shadow hunters fingers trailing random patterns on his knee as they rested together in the love seat. The air was warm and the sweet smell of bread baking in a nearby shop filled the air. The noise of the people and cars on the street below was just a dull rumble. Alec pressed a kiss to the top of his head, and Magnus hummed quietly in contentment.

Magnus shifted his head, listening to the steady beat of Alec's heart through the soft fabric of his shirt. He closed his eyes, breathing in the smell of his own shampoo twining with that particular smell of Alec that he could never quite pin down. It was like ancient spices or an evergreen forest after the first snow.

Alec's fingers idly twisted a strand of Magnus's hair. From inside of the apartment came the quiet sound of a phone vibrating against the coffee table. Magnus tensed, but Alec made no move to retrieve it. Instead he pulled the collar of Magnus's robe open, exposing the line of his collarbone. With two fingers Alec gently pushed Magnus's chin away, stretching his neck so that he could run his tongue down the length of it. Magnus huffed out a laugh as the boy's hand settled on the top of his thigh, scrunching the robe up so skin touched skin.

"I think even Magnus the Magnificent needs a little while to recover, my darling." Magnus murmured, twining his fingers with Alec's.

"What? You can't keep up old man?"

Magnus pretend to scowl but lifted his face to capture Alec's lips softly for a moment. The boy tasted like coffee and hazelnut cream. Magnus wondered how many centuries would go by before he got tired of kissing Alexander.

His heart contracted when he remembered that their time together was finite. A ticking time bomb of happiness. Not to mention his father, the Lightwoods, the general homophobia of the shadow hunter community…and, of course, demons.

Alec touched his cheek as Magnus pulled away. "Hey, where did you go?" Alec asked, his brow furrowing. Magnus shook his head and shifted his gaze back to view. The sky was aflame with orange and red as the sun breached the horizon somewhere past the skyscrapers. Alec pulled him tighter, their hands resting together. Magnus took another sip of coffee, listening with his whole body to the rise and fall of Alec's breath.

"What will we do?" Magnus said finally, breaking the long silence.

Alec sighed, threading their fingers together. Magnus watched the silhouette of a flock of pigeons swoop through the blushing sky and waited. Absently, Alec played with one of the silver rings on Magnus's hand, spinning it slowly around and around. Without speaking, Alec slipped it off. Magnus watched as the shadow hunter's long fingers twisted the sliver ring, the blue sapphire flashing in the light of the rising sun.

Alec cleared his throat, "I'm not good with words, Magnus…"

Magnus tilted his head back, letting it fall on Alec's shoulder. He sighed. "We will only have one lifetime together, my love." Magnus said softly, letting his eyes close against the sting he felt in them at the thought.

Alec's lips brushed his jaw softly. "Even you don't know the future, warlock." Alec said gently. "If you will have me, I am yours for as long as I am living."

Magnus took deep breath and looked up at the man he loved. The sunlight caught the sparks of gold in Alec's honey eyes, making them shine. "It will be hard," Magnus said, swallowing thickly. He wasn't sure if Alec knew what he was signing up for. "My father is not gone. The clave will never accept us. We will not grow old together. We will not—"

"I love you more then our problems, Magnus," Alec interrupted, leaning forward to silence him with another kiss.

Magnus broke off, letting his lips brush the corner of Alec's mouth before turning away again to lean against the boy's chest. Alec danced the ring across his knuckles as the silence deepened.

Magnus remembered the day he stood with Tessa at Will's grave. He thought about the agonizing years his friend had morned the loss of her love. And then he thought about their life together. How it had been filled with love, and laughter, and children and happiness. Magnus knew without asking that Tessa wouldn't trade one second of her life with Will despite the sorrow that had followed.

"Magnus," Alec said, taking the warlock's left hand in his own. Alec's fingers were trembling and Magnus's breath hitched. Magnus watched, warmth blooming in his chest, as Alec slipped the silver ring onto his wedding finger. "Whatever is to come, we will face it together."

Magnus's heart stuttered at the simple words. Happiness seared through him, bright and sharp. In one swift movement Magnus twisted around, settling on Alec's lap, and took the boy's face in both his hands. Alec's eye's danced up at him. Magnus traced his eyebrow, the ridge of his cheek and the bow of his bottom lip with his finger tip. "In four centuries, I have never been happier then I am at this moment, Alexander Lightwood." Magnus said, his voice breathless.

Alec smiled. "I take it that's a yes—"

"By the Angel, yes! A million times yes, you insufferable shadow hunter."

Alec laughed as Magnus kissed him wildly, and despite the dizzy, disorienting happiness, Magnus felt love settle on his heart. An undeniable truth that had been just out of reach for centuries. And for the first time in Magnus's long life he felt whole.

xxxx

 **Sadly, that is the end my friends. I loved writing this story, and it makes me sad to finish. It is so much easier to write angst then love, so I hope I did the ending justice. We all deserve a happy ending—especially Magnus and Alec! :)**

 **Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. Special thanks to smilie1smilie1, DeanForever, JoeNeal, Malec, and FitzgLivvieP for reviewing a bunch. Guys, I printed out a bunch of reviews and posted them on my wall next to my writing desk. Thank you for the inspiring words. I heart you all.**

 **I will definitely write some more Malec. I have a little idea for a one shot. And when the new season starts I'm sure I'll get more inspired!**

 **I hope you all are living your happy ending.**


End file.
